India, April 10 -- With growing incidents of human-leopard conflict in parts of Maharashtra such as Junnar - which is characterised by frequent leopard movement across human-dominated landscapes - the Pune forest department has initiated efforts to examine whether or not Rajasthan's Jawai model of coexistence between human beings and leopards can be replicated in Junnar.

In this regard, a delegation comprising forest officials, wildlife experts, researchers, and political leaders such as Dilip Walse-Patil and Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil; and led by Pune district collector Jitendra Dudi; visited the Jawai leopard reserve on March 28 and 29 this year. The visit was organised in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India to study the m...