Dudi reports 68 leopards caught in Junnar div

District Collector Jitendra Dudi has said that 68 leopards have been captured so far in the Junnar Forest Division as part of intensified efforts to curb human-leopard conflict in rural Pune.

- Varad Bhatkhande

He noted that this is the highest number of leopards trapped in the shortest period. The Pune District Administration has provided Rs13 crore for measures to manage the leopard population.

The Junnar Forest Division covers the forest ranges of Junnar, Otur, Shirur, Ghodegaon, Manchar, Rajgurunagar, and Chakan, across the tehsils of Khed, Ambegaon, Shirur, and Junnar. Between 2020-21 and 2025-26, the department successfully reunited 185 leopard cubs with their mothers. Base camps of the 'Leopard Action Force' have been set up in highly sensitive villages, including Pimparkhed, Nhawara, and Bhima Koregaon in Shirur; Aale and Nagadwadi in Junnar; and Gawadewadi in Ambegaon, to conduct 24×7 awareness with the help of local youth. These efforts have helped reduce conflict over the past two years in western Shirur and eastern Ambegaon, and Junnar.