<img title="The leopard cubs" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2018/mar/Leopard-cubs.jpg" alt="The leopard cubs" /> The leopard cubs
On yet another happy note for the state, the Junnar Forest Department along with the Wildlife SOS successfully reunited four 20-day-old <a title="Leopard cubs" href="https://www.mid-day.com/topic/leopard-all" target="_blank">leopard cubs</a>, found in a sugarcane field, with their mother.
Every year, at the onset of the harvest season, farmers stumble upon leopards and their cubs in sugarcane fields in the Junnar area. Over the years, it has been also observed that due to the destruction of the habitat and decreasing forest cover, leopards choose sugarcane fields, with their tall stalks, as a safe cover to give birth in and rear their young. This, however, also gives rise to man-leopard conflict situations, especially during the harvest season.
On Sunday, villagers of Takali Haji village, while harvesting sugarcane crop, spotted the four leopard cubs. The villagers quietly informed the forest department, after which the Range Forest Officer Tushar Dhamdhere requested the Wildlife SOS team operating out of the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre in Junnar for their assistance.
A team of four Wildlife SOS rescuers and three forest officers rushed to their aid. Wildlife SOS's senior veterinarian, Dr Ajay Deshmukh conducted a meticulous examination for ticks and injuries and found the cubs to be healthy and fit for release. According to experts, of the four cubs, two were male and two female.
Dr Deshmukh said, "Leopards turn extremely aggressive when their cubs go missing and can retaliate, therefore, we try our best to reunite missing cubs with their mothers to avoid instances of man-leopard conflict. The harvest season witnesses the highest instances of conflict because the farmers move into the fields to cut down the long sugarcane stalks."
Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder and CEO of Wildlife SOS said, "We would like to ensure that leopard cubs that get separated from their mothers don't end up in captivity if we can help it. We want them to live freely in their natural habitat."
Also read: <a title="Leopard cubs" href="https://www.mid-day.com/articles/pune-22-cubs-reunited-with-their-leopard-mothers/19147192" target="_blank">Pune: 22 cubs reunited with their leopard mothers</a>
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Every year, at the onset of the harvest season, farmers stumble upon leopards and their cubs in sugarcane fields in the Junnar area

Four new born leopard cubs reunited with their mother in Maharashtra

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Home / Mumbai / Mumbai News / Article / Four new born leopard cubs reunited with their mother in Maharashtra

Four new born leopard cubs reunited with their mother in Maharashtra

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Ganeshotsav 2026