Hunt for elusive leopard continues at Pune airport; probe on in Daund baby death case

PUNE: While there are signs confirming the presence of a leopard on the premises of Pune Airport in Lohegaon, the animal continues to evade capture five days into the launch of search operations.

In a separate incident in Daund, efforts have continued for over 40 hours to verify the alleged involvement of a leopard in the death of an 11-month-old baby boy. Forest officials have recovered a few body parts of the infant around 500 metres from the site of the incident.

A post-mortem examination has been conducted and the report is awaited. Meanwhile, police officials are also investigating the case to determine the exact cause of death.

About the Lohegaon search operation, Suresh Varak, range forest officer for the Pune forest department, said, “Although there is no fresh spotting of the leopard on the trap cameras, a few pieces of evidence have confirmed the presence of the animal within the premises. The team had installed nine trap cameras and three trap cages near the airway where the cat was spotted. The department will be employing different techniques and will change the location of the traps in order to capture the big cat.”

Speculation is rife that the leopard may still be using the extensive network of tunnels present underneath. As such, the team will be setting up a few trap cameras near the tunnels as well.

On Monday, the fully-grown male leopard was spotted at Pune Airport (part of an airbase) at 7 am after which it was again seen resting on the runway and take-off site at 8 pm.

N R Praveen, chief conservator of forests, said that they had installed trap cages at various locations and the leopard came near the cages twice. “The first time, the door did not close due to the lack of pressure whereas the second time, the leopard was able to take the bait and move away. The search-and-capture operation is underway and all standard procedures are being followed. We are also maintaining communication with the Air Force authorities on the same. We believe that the leopard has used the open drainage channel to enter the premises. The team is working on ground and necessary actions are being taken after following the situation,” Praveen said.

The authorities confirmed that no flight operations have been affected thus far due to the leopard’s presence at the airport.

Some experts believe that the leopard could be among a few dispersing from Shirur, a known hotspot in Pune district. Meanwhile, others believe that it may have been present in the forest patches near the airport which may have desensitised it to the sound and lights in a human-dominated landscape.

Meanwhile in Daund, the forest department on May 1 has found a few body parts of the infant suspected to have died in a leopard attack. The baby boy was allegedly dragged by the leopard at around 5.30 am on April 30. Due to the lack of any evidence however, forest officials are not yet able to determine the involvement of a leopard in the death of the baby boy.

About this, Aditya Paranjape, honorary wildlife warden, Pune District, said, “For the last two days, we have been observing the situation. Investigation is underway to determine the involvement of the leopard in this incident however even after examination by an expert team, we haven’t found any concrete evidence for the same so far. Now, police officials are also probing this case. Meanwhile, we have installed multiple trap cameras and trap cages in this area. There is leopard presence in this area. On the night of May 1, a leopard killed a sheep in this area. We are closely observing the situation in Dahithane village of Daund tehsil…”