Nashik: The Forest Department captured a leopard in the Shivara area of Palse village on the Nashik-Pune highway around 7 am on Monday. The leopard was trapped in a cage installed at plot number 599, Nashik Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Road, owned by Trimbak Ranu Gaydhani, Dnyaneshwar Gaydhani and Ganesh Jadhav.
A rescue was also carried out in the morning in a cage in plot number 595, owned by Vinod Babanrao Jadhav, in the area of Palse. Both these operations brought great relief to farmers and citizens.
There had been leopard sightings in this area for the past several days. The leopard had hunted some animals, which had frightened the citizens. The leopard had been seen in CCTV many times.
Due to this, the citizens had demanded that a cage be installed. The forest department immediately set up a cage and this morning, as soon as the information about the leopard being captured was received, the citizens informed the forest department. There was a huge crowd to see the leopard. After some time, the forest department staff came and took the leopard along with the cage.
The forest department took it into custody and sent it to the Wildlife Treatment Centre, Mhasrul for preliminary examination and further action. Leopards have been captured in areas like Chandshi, Chehdi, Lohshingwe, Mauje Odha and other areas in the Nashik area in the last few months. These incidents have increased human-wildlife conflict. The forest department has appealed that citizens in the area should remain alert.
