Overview
- Forest teams shot dead a male leopard in Ahilyanagar that officials say killed two people, with sharpshooter Dr Rajiv Shinde firing after the animal charged during a night operation.
- Following a separate attack on a seven-year-old boy, authorities issued a second shoot-at-sight order on November 16, and capture operations for that leopard are ongoing, officials said.
- The Union environment ministry cleared a state pilot to sterilise leopards in Junnar, with Maharashtra approving Rs 11.25 crore for conflict-mitigation measures and a six-month review planned.
- The government is scaling surveillance and response by deploying AI alert systems, drones, and volunteers, expanding capture capacity to 1,000 cages, and directing day-time power supply to lower farm-night risk.
- Palghar has begun installing solar-powered AI cameras with sirens to warn residents and alert rangers, and officials plan police complaints over fake AI-generated videos of leopard movements.