Express News Service
CHANDIGARH: Two leopard cubs from Aravalis were found separated from their mother on Thursday night in the ruins of an old fort in the hills of Kotla village in the Nuh district of Haryana.
Children playing in a nearby forest area brought the cubs home before the Haryana Wildlife officials on Friday morning rescued the four-day-old cubs and reportedly reunited them with their mother. The children belong to the same village and had accompanied their parents who had gone there for cattle grazing.
Sources in the Haryana Wildlife Department said children brought the cubs home mistaking them for kittens. “We got the information and today our team visited Kotla village in Nuh district and got the custody of these leopard cubs from the family who had taken their cattle for grazing in the forest area and spotted these cubs which looked different. They thought they were kittens so brought them to their house and played with them,’’ said a forest department official.
These cubs were taken by the officials of the wildlife department to the spot where a raised platform and placed cubs were kept on it so that the mother leopard could hear their wails. After almost six hours of waiting, the mother leopard appeared and took away the cubs.
Wildlife Department officials showed pug marks to confirm the same but had no photos or videos showing the mother leopard taking them away. “We managed to rehabilitate them in the jungle from where they were brought,’’ an official said.
Environmentalist Vaishali Rana, however, questioned the entire episode. “How do you say mother took them? Pug marks could have been of another leopard which might have just devoured them. The fact that the accused took them thinking they were cats is unbelievable as the entire village was posting videos with leopard cubs the entire night. The cubs looked traumatised in the videos. Experts should have been called and then they should have been released in the jungle. The Wildlife Department should have taken strict action, given the history of leopard poaching in Aravalis,’’ Rana said.
Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Haryana MS Malik said he will look into all versions and take necessary action. “As of now, our team in the field claims to have rehabilitated the cubs successfully. We will look into the complaints,’’ he said.
As the news spread fast, people from nearby villages reached the spot to have a look at the cubs. This latest incident adds to the growing list of leopards being regularly spotted in the area. The villagers have been repeatedly told not to venture into the forest.
CHANDIGARH: Two leopard cubs from Aravalis were found separated from their mother on Thursday night in the ruins of an old fort in the hills of Kotla village in the Nuh district of Haryana.
Children playing in a nearby forest area brought the cubs home before the Haryana Wildlife officials on Friday morning rescued the four-day-old cubs and reportedly reunited them with their mother. The children belong to the same village and had accompanied their parents who had gone there for cattle grazing.
Sources in the Haryana Wildlife Department said children brought the cubs home mistaking them for kittens. “We got the information and today our team visited Kotla village in Nuh district and got the custody of these leopard cubs from the family who had taken their cattle for grazing in the forest area and spotted these cubs which looked different. They thought they were kittens so brought them to their house and played with them,’’ said a forest department official.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
These cubs were taken by the officials of the wildlife department to the spot where a raised platform and placed cubs were kept on it so that the mother leopard could hear their wails. After almost six hours of waiting, the mother leopard appeared and took away the cubs.
Wildlife Department officials showed pug marks to confirm the same but had no photos or videos showing the mother leopard taking them away. “We managed to rehabilitate them in the jungle from where they were brought,’’ an official said.
Environmentalist Vaishali Rana, however, questioned the entire episode. “How do you say mother took them? Pug marks could have been of another leopard which might have just devoured them. The fact that the accused took them thinking they were cats is unbelievable as the entire village was posting videos with leopard cubs the entire night. The cubs looked traumatised in the videos. Experts should have been called and then they should have been released in the jungle. The Wildlife Department should have taken strict action, given the history of leopard poaching in Aravalis,’’ Rana said.
Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Haryana MS Malik said he will look into all versions and take necessary action. “As of now, our team in the field claims to have rehabilitated the cubs successfully. We will look into the complaints,’’ he said.
As the news spread fast, people from nearby villages reached the spot to have a look at the cubs. This latest incident adds to the growing list of leopards being regularly spotted in the area. The villagers have been repeatedly told not to venture into the forest.
