A 13-week-old leopard cub was found wandering around near a farming village in India. <br /><br />Thanks to the efforts of local wildlife services it was swiftly reunited with its mother. <br /><br />Over the years, the wild cats of Maharashtra, west-central India, have suitably adapted to habitat modification and have moved out of the shrinking forests, and into the dense sugarcane fields. Female leopards have found these fields a suitable shelter for giving birth and rearing their cubs.<br /><br />Locals have attempted to avoid any conflicts. But on Tuesday afternoon one of the cubs wandered away from its siblings and ventured into the area. <br /><br />A farmer spotted the helpless young leopard outside his sugarcane field and fearing that he might incur the wrath of the mother leopard, rushed to alert the Forest Department. <br /><br />Range Forest Officer Manisha Bhinge immediately reached out to the Wildlife SOS team operating out of the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Center in Junnar for their assistance.<br /><br />A four-member team led by Wildlife SOS senior veterinarian, Dr. Ajay Deshmukh drove to the village located nearly 90km away from the rescue centre, accompanied by a team of forest officers. <br /><br />The team carefully placed him in a safe box and installed a remote-controlled camera trap to document the reunion process, while monitoring the area from a distance. <br /><br />After hours of waiting, the large female leopard finally emerged from the neighbouring forest to find her cub safe and sound.
