‘Man-Eater’ Leopard Shot Dead in Pune After Series of Attacks
Pune, November 5: A leopard declared a “man-eater” was shot dead by forest department sharpshooters in Pune district after it killed three people in a month.
Officials said the animal had claimed the lives of two minors and an elderly man in Mauje Pimparkhed area of Shirur tehsil. The repeated attacks had sparked anger in nearby villages including Junnar, Shirur, Ambegaon and Khed, where leopard sightings have gone up sharply.
Following the death of a 13-year-old boy on Sunday, angry locals torched a forest department vehicle. Authorities then ordered the capture or elimination of the leopard responsible for the attacks.
A 13-year-old boy was killed by a leopard in a village in Shirur tehsil of Pune district, marking the third case of human-animal conflict in a month, triggering an angry response from locals who set a patrolling van of the forest department on fire pic.twitter.com/Ke34r6JePf
— Pune First (@Pune_First) November 3, 2025
“The leopard was spotted about 400 to 500 metres from the latest attack site on Tuesday night. We tried to tranquilise it, but the dart failed. As it charged toward the team, the shooters opened fire around 10.30 pm,” said an official from the Junnar forest division. The leopard, believed to be around five to six years old, was killed instantly.
#WATCH | Maharashtra: A male leopard has been captured in a cage set up by the Forest Department in Pimperkhed village of Pune. This is the same village where a 13-year-old boy was killed in a leopard attack on Sunday. Local villagers say that it is a man-eating leopard that… pic.twitter.com/0SQac1yWIG
— ANI (@ANI) November 4, 2025
Its carcass was later shown to villagers before being taken to the Manikdoh Rescue Centre for post-mortem. Officials added that another male leopard was caught in a trap set up nearby earlier that day.
