Mother reclaims leopard cub in Shivni Range

After six days of captivity, the leopard cub of Shivni range near Chandrapur in Mysore jumped back to the care and safety of its mother during midnight hours of Sunday. It took six days of waiting and planning on part of the forest department to reunite the cub with its mother.

After the location of the female leopard, foresters of Shivni range under the guidance of ACF RT Dhabekar erected a temporary enclosure in the farm of Ambadas Madkam, located on the fringes of the forest where the female leopard was noticed. "A three-and-a-half foot high bamboo enclosure covered by the bamboo mats was constructed in the farm", said RFO, Shivni range, Rahul Sorte.

The cub was kept in the cage. "Around midnight, the staff waiting at a nearby 'machan' heard the calling of the female leopard. The cub inside the enclosure too responded. Around 2am, they again heard the roars of leopard. On inspection in the morning, the enclosure was found empty," said Sorte. On close inspection of the premises, forest officials found out that the mother leopard approached the enclosure, even as the cub climbed on its edge. The mother put its forelimbs on the enclosure's edge, picked the cub in its mouth and departed," he said.

Meanwhile, a six-month-old leopard cub was found dead in the Bhadrawati forest range on Tuesday. Forest officers have claimed that the cub had died in a fight with a tiger.

TNN Nov 30, 2011, 01.30AM IST

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/