Junnar, known as a hotspot for leopard-human conflicts in the district, has once again witnessed a fatal leopard attack, this time resulting in the death of a four-year-old boy in Shirur tehsil of Pune district.

This marks the eighth human death due to a leopard attack in Pune district since March of this year. In this particularly gruesome incident, the boy's head was severed from his body.

The attack occurred at 7 pm on Friday in Tembhekar Vasti, near Mandavgan Farata village.

According to the Junnar Forest Department, Shivtej had traveled to the village with his parents from Pune to celebrate Diwali. On the evening of the attack, he was playing near the front of their house, close to a sugarcane field. At that moment, a leopard, which had been hiding in the field, emerged and attacked the young boy, mistaking him for prey.

Shivtej’s grandfather, Pandurang Tembhekar, witnessed the attack and immediately shouted for help while attempting to confront the leopard. Despite his efforts, the leopard dragged Shivtej approximately 400 meters into the field. Hearing the cries, family members and neighbors rushed to the scene. The police and forest officials were quickly notified, and authorities responded promptly to the incident.

Timeline of Human-Leopard Conflicts in Junnar: