In response to the second of two months’ worth of leopard attacks, the Junnar Forest Division has sent out a red notice for thirteen nearby communities.
These villages are Chalkawadi, Bhatkalwadi, Nagadwadi, Chalkawadi, Yedgaon, Vaishakhkhede, Jambhulpad, Navalewadi, Pimpri Pendhar, Umbraj-1 and 2, and Kandali. Villagers have been advised to proceed with caution by the forest department. As a precaution, residents are advised not to go outside before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. When going into fields, they have recommended the locals to travel in groups rather than by themselves.
As a preventative strategy, it is advised to always have a stick with you and to occasionally generate loud noises like popping crackers. In addition, locals are advised not to sleep in open spaces outside and are warned against leaving young children and the elderly alone on farm edges.
On May 10, a 60-year-old lady farmer died in the Pimpri Pendhar area of Junnar, according to forest officials, who noted that this was the third deadly leopard assault in the Pune forest region in less than a month. Nanubai Sitaram Kadale (50) has been named as the dead. About eight in the morning, she was working on her bajra farm when a leopard fatally attacked her.
Earlier that day, two people had died and a lady had been seriously hurt after a leopard attacked suddenly in the Junnar forest.
The Junnar Forest Division has installed 30 cages and 20 trap cameras to catch leopards in the area as a preventative step against the growing menace.
Drone cameras are continuously monitoring the area, and fifty forest workers are actively involved in raising awareness throughout the surrounding communities.
When incidents are reported, members of the Manikdoh Rescue Team and authorities from the Junnar Forest Division move quickly to the scene to take the appropriate action.
Attacks within the previous two months
May 8: While playing in Kolwadi, Junnar, Rudra Mahesh Fatale, age 8, was fatally attacked by a leopard.
April 11: In Shiroli Khurd, Junnar, a leopard assault killed 1.5-year-old Sanskruti Kuelkar.
March 11: Reports of a prior deadly attack
