Forest officials rescue month-and-a-half old leopard cub

Gondia: A month-and-a-half old leopard cub which seems to have got separated from its mother was rescued by forest officials near compartment 2,266 of the Pipertola Nimba forest on Thursday, official sources said here on Friday.

The cub, which is suffering from starvation, is presently under the observation of forest officials and veterinary doctors, a forest official said.

He said that a village woman who noticed a leopard cub following her informed villagers who brought it to the attention of forest authorities.

Assistant Conservator of Forest Vijay Udapure and Goregaon Range Forest Officer S M Jadhav rushed to the site and took custody of the cub.

Initially, they tried to locate the leopard cub's mother, but ended up finding another cub, who had died due to starvation.

The cub was brought to Goregaon and given medical treatment.

By then, Deputy Conservator of Forest Jitendra Ramgaonkar and Honorary Wildlife Warden Sawan Bahekar also visited and took stock of the cub's condition.

According to Ramgaonkar, the cub is responding well to the treatment and would be back in good health shortly.

"We will observe the cub's fitness level based on which we will take a decision on whether to free it in the forest," Ramgaonkar said.