Pune: In a major update for the ongoing human-leopard conflict crisis in rural parts of Pune District, Pune District Collector Jitendra Dudi has revealed that 68 leopards have been captured by the administration
until now. Pune District Administration provided Rs 13 crore itself to implement various measures to curb the existing leopard population in Junnar Forest Division. The Maharashtra Forest Department has managed to catch these leopards in record time; as Collector Dudi said, this is the maximum number of leopards caught in the shortest time.
The Junnar Forest Division includes the forest ranges of Junnar, Otur, Shirur, Ghodegaon, Manchar, Rajgurunagar, and Chakan, spanning four tehsils of Khed, Ambegaon, Shirur, and Junnar in Pune District. The Junnar Forest Division is implementing measures to manage the leopard population and prevent man-leopard conflicts. Between 2020-2021 and 2025-2026, 185 leopard-cub reunions have been successfully carried out.
‘Leopard Action Force’ Base camps have been established in highly sensitive villages spanning four tehsils. These include Pimparkhed, Nhawara, Bhima Koregaon (Shirur Tehsil), Aale, Nagadwadi (Junnar Tehsil), and Gawadewadi (Ambegaon Tehsil) to conduct 24x7 awareness using local youth. This initiative has significantly controlled man-leopard conflict in the western part of Shirur Taluka and the eastern parts of Ambegaon and Junnar over the past two years.
In the months of October and November, many fatal incidents caused by man-eating leopards caused wide outrage, and citizens protested by blocking the Pune-Nashik Highway near Manchar. They demanded action by the state government, including compensation.
Compensation paid for losses due to leopard attacks in the year 2025-26 amounts to a total of Rs 2,38,15,753, which includes:
- Death of 5 citizens: ₹65 lakh
- Injury to 5 citizens: ₹2,18,964
- Death of 1,657 livestock: ₹1,61,16,889
- Crop damage across 17 hectares: ₹9,79,900
- Total: ₹2,38,15,753
Other ongoing measures by the Forest Department include:
- Forest staff patrolling villages and conducting public awareness campaigns.
- Formation of Rapid Rescue Teams with local participation for patrolling and awareness.
- Conducting approximately 40 awareness programmes in various villages and schools using performance groups (Kalapathak).
- Special awareness classes on department schemes and leopard awareness were conducted in 50 villages by an expert named Soumitra, involving Gram Panchayat officials.
- Distribution of informative posters and pamphlets and organisation of workshops detailing precautions against leopard attacks.
- Coordination between rescue team members and the Manickdoh Leopard Rescue Center team for swift wildlife rescue operations. A total of 400 members are active in the Primary Rescue Team.
Along with that, a control room with the toll-free number 1800 3033 has been established at the Divisional Office in Junnar Tehsil since May 2024, operating 24x7. It collects information from highly sensitive areas and issues instructions for patrols. Following approval from the Central Zoo Authority in New Delhi, 10 leopards from conflict zones were relocated to a rescue centre in Jamnagar in Gujarat in July 2024. For the safety of shepherds and sugarcane cutters, 410 solar lights and 410 tents were distributed. A system has been implemented in 50 locations across the Shirur and Manchar forest ranges, making the Junnar Forest Division the first forest division in the state to achieve this.
233 highly sensitive villages have been declared as ‘Potential Leopard Disaster Prone Areas’. A pilot project for solar energy fencing for isolated houses and cattle sheds in fields is being implemented on the lines of the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Jan-Van Yojana. So far, solar fencing has been installed at 150 houses, and protection is being extended to an additional 550 houses. The division has a total of 400 operational cages. The Forest Department has trained 400 Disaster Response Friends (Aapda Mitra) as members of the Primary Attack Response Team (PART). 3,300 neck guards have been distributed to citizens, and 5 Annihilator machines are operational.
Pune District Collector Dudi also stated that proposals are in place for leopard sterilisation, providing daytime electricity supply for agricultural pumps, expansion of the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Center, demand for additional manpower for a Special Leopard Protection Force (modelled after the Special Tiger Protection Force), translocation of leopards to other protected areas, and the creation of 4 new leopard rescue centres.
