In a rare and successful wildlife rescue effort, an abandoned leopard cub found in a forested village area near Murbad in Thane district was reunited with its mother after a painstaking 72-hour operation carried out jointly by the forest department and wildlife rescuers.

The cub was first spotted by a group of tribal residents who found it alone in the forest, vulnerable to attack by a pack of free-ranging dogs. Acting swiftly, the Murbad Forest Department, along with Mumbai-based NGO RAWW (Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare), rescued the cub and initiated a carefully planned reunion exercise.