Nashik; A leopardess has taken shelter in a vacant house outside a village along with her four cubs near here in Maharashtra, prompting forest department officials to deploy guards in the area and restrict entry of people.
According to forest officials, the leopardess had brought her four cubs in the dilapidated house, located in an agriculture field of a farmer, Rajendra Tandale, on August 15 night.
The house is near Nandgaon Sado village under Igatpuri taluka of Nashik district.
Tandale lives in his house in the village at present and the one in the field is in a dilapidated condition and therefore remains unused.
When it was found that the leopardess has taken shelter in the house along with her four cubs, which the officials said appear to be 15 days old, villagers informed the forest department about it.
Following this, forest department officials set up CCTV cameras in the area to monitor the movement of the wild animal.
An August 19 footage has captured the leopardess feeding her four cubs.
Igatpuri taluka is receiving heavy rains for the last 10-12 days and therefore the wild animal may have taken shelter in the house after coming out of a nearby forest, the officials said.
The animal may return to the forest when rains subside, they said.
At present, forest guards have been deployed in the area, where entry of people has been restricted, the officials said.