Separated from mother, leopard cub finds new home in Pune centre

Pune, Jan 9 (IANS) Separated from its mother and lost in a sugarcane field in Maharashtra's Nashik district, a 12-week-old female leopard cub has found a new home at the Leopard Rescue Centre here, an official said.

The cub was found in the sugarcane fields near Chapadgaon village as farmers were harvesting their crop. The Forest Department made several attempts to reunite the baby leopard with its mother but failed and on Monday, brought it to the centre, jointly run by the Wildlife SOS and Forest Department. Situated at Manikdoh, it currently houses 32 such leopards.

"The baby leopard is quite active. We have subjected her to a clinical examination and checked her for external parasites and injuries. We will continue to monitor her health as baby felids are very susceptible to various health issues and are delicate at this age," said Wildlife SOS veterinarian Ajay Deshmukh.

He added that they will have to hand-rear the leopard as it cannot be returned to the wild.

In a bid to reunite with its mother, the leopard cub was placed in a basket and kept at the place where it was found but the mother leopard never returned.

According to wildlife experts involved in such reuniting operation, mother leopards usually take the cub away within a few hours or on the same day, but sometimes, things do not take their natural course.