Leopards dispersing south of Junnar, expanding territory into human-dominated areas

Leopards from source areas such as Junnar, Khed, Shirur, and Ambegaon tehsils now appear to be dispersing towards the southern and southeastern parts of Junnar, entering new territories and leading to a rise in human-leopard conflicts, said forest officials noting that attacks by big cats are on the rise. Recent incidents reported from Shirur, Daund, Lohegaon, and even Solapur district have once again underlined the shift. Officials said there is now hardly any entry point left in Pune district where leopard presence has not been recorded in recent years.

In the last two weeks alone, three serious conflict incidents involving the big cat have been reported in Pune district. An 82-year-old woman was killed in Shirur tehsil on April 25. Just five days later, on April 30, an 11-month-old baby was allegedly killed in a leopard attack in Daund. Around the same time, a leopard was spotted inside the airport premises in Lohegaon. According to official data, at least 11 people have died in leopard attacks in Pune district between March 2024 and April 2025. Of these, 10 were in the Junnar forest division and one in the Pune counterpart. Apart from fatal encounters, regular leopard sightings and cattle killings have been reported across the district. Solapur, too, has recorded several such incidents in recent years, ranging from frequent sightings and livestock attacks to occasional attacks on humans.

Until a few years ago, such attacks were largely limited to the forested and semi-rural areas of Junnar and Ambegaon. But as the leopard population grows and sugarcane farming spreads, the conflict is now reaching deeper into human settlements in Shirur and Khed tehsils. The trend is further expanding southwards into Daund, Baramati, urban Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and even Solapur district, with recent incidents pointing clearly to the shift, according to wildlife experts.

Ankit Kumar, researcher, Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, who is working on human-leopard conflict in Pune under the guidance of senior scientist Bilal Habib, said the leopard population in Junnar may have exceeded its carrying capacity, prompting younger ones to move into newer areas. According to Kumar, leopards are possibly expanding into regions with dense sugarcane cultivation, good vegetation cover, and readily available prey and water. These conditions create a favourable habitat and explain the increasing frequency of leopard encounters in such locations.

He said that dispersal to the south and southeast is more likely as territories in Nashik, Ahmednagar, and surrounding areas are already occupied. In order to avoid territorial clashes with established leopard populations in those regions, new generations of sugarcane-adapted leopards from Junnar appear to be moving towards areas that offer both shelter and prey. In urban areas, riparian vegetation, green patches, and a high population of stray dogs are making cities like Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad increasingly attractive to leopards. Kumar said this is not a short-term shift but a slow, generational expansion that could lead to more frequent human-leopard interactions in urban spaces over the coming years.

Explaining the broader nature of such conflict, Kumar said that it’s not only about direct attacks. Even routine sightings can instil fear and disrupt daily life, which also amounts to conflict. In a recent example, residents of housing colonies near the Lohegaon airport have reported changes in daily habits—keeping children indoors and avoiding going out alone after sunset—due to fear of leopard presence. Such disruptions, he said, reflect the evolving nature of human-wildlife conflict in increasingly urbanised areas.

With leopard territories expanding and human settlements pushing further into natural habitats, experts caution that the frequency and intensity of such conflicts are likely to grow. Children, in particular, may be the most vulnerable in this changing scenario, experts said.