Leopard scare in Pune’s Mundhwa continues as animal spotted in congested Kumbharwada

A day before, the CCTV camera captured the image of a leopard at a residential society in Keshav Nagar, Mundhwa, early on Thursday.

“After a leopard was sighted in Keshav Nagar, a new leopard sighting was reported near the Kumbhar Wada area during the search operation, in the early morning of December 19. No leopard sightings have been reported after that. Trap cameras have been installed in the surrounding areas. Awareness programmes are ongoing in residential societies, and search operations are continuing in the riverside area,” said Vishal Chavan, Range Forest Officer (RFO), Pune, on Saturday.

Earlier, a leopard, which was spotted multiple times at the Pune International Airport, was captured in the early hours of December 12, after an eight-hour-long intensive multi-agency operation throughout the night led by the Pune Forest Department, in collaboration with RESQ Charitable Trust, the Indian Air Force (IAF), and airport authorities.

Also, attempts are underway to capture the leopard spotted in Aundh, Bavdhan, and Pashan areas of the city, said a forest officer. The animal was seen in RBI Colony and Sindh Society in Aundh on November 23. On December 5, a leopard was spotted yet again in the Pashan and Sutarwadi areas. Before that, the leopard was sighted in the Bavdhan area of Pune on the night between November 31 and December 1, along the Pashan NDA Road.