Pune: Residents of Mengdewadi near Manchar in the Ambegaon Tehsil of Pune District are reeling from a chilling leopard attack that occurred during the wee hours of Wednesday. The entire incident was caught on CCTV cameras.
Watch Video:
The predatory strike took place at approximately 3:22 AM, claiming the life of a local indie dog. The incident serves as a stark reminder of the growing threat of man-animal conflict in the Pune district.
The incident was documented in two separate CCTV footages that have since gone viral across social media platforms. The recordings reveal three dogs resting in a common residential area during the dead of night. One of the larger dogs appears to sense a disturbance in the shadows and begins to retreat cautiously from the frame.
A smaller indie dog remains sleeping nearby, completely oblivious to the approaching danger. Within seconds, a leopard lunges from the darkness, pouncing on the smaller dog with lethal precision before dragging it away into the surrounding brush.
A third dog, positioned further away from the initial strike, is seen barking frantically in an attempt to raise an internal alarm, though the predator had already vanished with its prey before any intervention could occur.
This latest attack has intensified fears among the local agrarian community as leopard sightings across Pune district continue to surge. The Mengdewadi incident follows closely on the heels of another sighting reported just 24 hours prior. On Tuesday, a leopard was spotted roaming through a farm in the Otur village area of Junnar Tehsil.
While no human injuries were reported in either the Mengdewadi or Otur incidents, the brazen nature of the Wednesday morning attack in a residential pocket has prompted calls for increased patrolling by forest department officials.
Officials of the Maharashtra Forest Department have been notified, and a probe is underway for the wild cat.
