By | Arvind Jadhav
Mumbai– In a major wildlife management move, the Maharashtra government has sent a proposal to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) seeking permission to relocate 50 rescued leopards to Vantara, the Ambani Group’s animal rehabilitation facility in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
Chief Conservator of Forests Jitendra Ramgaonkar confirmed that the proposal, submitted on November 6, aims to shift only those leopards currently housed in rescue centres for several years. “The relocation will help create space for newly rescued animals,” he said.
Ramgaonkar added that the State is simultaneously implementing other strategies to reduce human-leopard conflict at the district level and has also forwarded proposals for leopard birth control measures to the Centre.
The decision comes amid a spike in leopard attacks in western Maharashtra, especially in Pune and surrounding regions. On November 2, a 13-year-old boy was killed in the Shirur area — the third such fatality since mid-October — sparking fear and public outrage across Junnar, Ambegaon, and Khed talukas.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that approximately 1,300 leopards are currently present in the Pune and Ahilyanagar districts. “We are in talks with the central government for permissions on sterilisation and necessary action against man-eater leopards,” he stated.
A senior Forest Department official clarified that relocation would be conducted on a case-by-case basis. “We are not shifting 1,500 leopards to Vantara. Only selected rescued leopards will be transferred as needed. For now, most will come from the Junnar region,” the official added, dismissing inflated figures circulating publicly.
