Rescued leopard cub |
Khetia (Barwani district): Barely a week after Madhya Pradesh became a Leopard State, the forest department team along with villagers on Monday morning rescued a leopard cub from a dry well situated in a farm on outskirts of Khetia village.
The cub is two months old and may have fallen in the dry well on late Sunday night. On receiving news that a leopard cub has fallen into a dry well, many villagers gathered at the spot. They called forest department team for rescue.
Farmer Animesh Shah said a leopardess along with a cub was seen in the village recently. The cub’s rescue was carried out though it was feared that leopardess may suddenly arrive on hearing cub’s voice. Villagers said leopards are constantly sighted in Khetia and adjoining villages. Often forest department lays traps for leopards and then releases them in forests.
On December 21, Madhya Pradesh was declared a leopard state following a report released by union environment minister Prakash Javadekar. As per the report, Madhya Pradesh has reported 3,421 spotted big cats, the highest number in the country. According to latest census, state is home to more than one-fourth (precisely 26 per cent) of all 12,852 leopards estimated in the country. The state also has the highest number of tigers in the country at 526, according to tiger estimate released by the ministry in July 2020.
