It is said that some things, like nature and wildlife, are best left undisturbed. Recently, this was proven true after a team of forest department officials decided to not displace abandoned leopard cubs who were eventually taken back by their mother.
On Monday, Indian Forest Service officer Parveen Kaswan tweeted that they had spotted leopard cubs in the jungle without the presence of their mother. This prompted the forest officials to monitor the newborn cubs so that they could be protected from predators.
The forest officials hoped that the mother will return to the cubs and decided that if that does not happen within 24 hours then they would take the newborns under their care. Fortunately, the leopard returned to her cubs and shifted them to a safe location.
These 7-8 days old cubs were found by workers. Area was cordoned & monitoring was done. A 24 hour wait & mother took them to safe location ! pic.twitter.com/bAKl78OvV4
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) April 25, 2022
Kaswan tweeted a video that first showed the abandoned cubs, who were estimated to be seven to eight days old. Later in the video, the mother leopard can be seen arriving at the spot where her cubs were kept and taking care of them.
It was a well thought out decision not to remove them from location. But remove all disturbance and put a 24X7 vigil.
Idea was to wait & provide protection. If mother doesn’t come for substantial time then backup plan.
But she came & took the cubs.
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) April 25, 2022
Commenting on the video, a Twitter user wrote, “Understanding nature and allowing it to take its own course is more important than unnecessary interventions made in hurry..Kudos to your staff @ParveenKaswan”. Another person remarked, “A win for all”.
Understanding nature and allowing it to take its own course is more important than unnecessary interventions made in hurry..
Kudos to your staff @ParveenKaswan— Surender Mehra IFS (@surenmehra) April 25, 2022
Good news for all
— Barkha Gupta (@bgapkis) April 26, 2022
Patience is a requirement in matters of conservation…
Well done @ParveenKaswan !!!
— mieke (@mieke2) April 25, 2022
Lovely! Glad their mother came back.
— Dipiya Dilawari (@Dipdil) April 25, 2022
— HarshwardhanBajpai (@HarshwardhanCG) April 25, 2022
Beautiful video
It is possible that the presence of humans discouraged the mother to return after 24 hours?— Gaurav Dhanda (@gdhanda) April 25, 2022
Indian forest service has fabulous, passionate people👏🏽👏🏽
— Swati Garekar (@swatigar) April 26, 2022
Sir, this is very much appreciated!
I felt like I did vitness this… just like you and your team did it at first hand… thank you for sharing this precious footage Sir!— mrutyunjaya kadlur (@MrutyunjayaSK) April 25, 2022
Superb effort to protect them .. so cute 🥰 they look when cubs
— Nisha rai (@nisharai_ggc) April 25, 2022
Leopards, which are classified as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, are facing threats of poaching and loss of habitat. However, thanks to sustained conservation efforts, India’s leopard population is increasing. According to India’s first-ever leopard census published in 2015, there are 12,000 to 14,000 such big cats in the country.
