Thane: Amid a rise in leopard numbers and wild animal attacks in Maharashtra, state forest minister Ganesh Naik said the forest department has captured 250 leopards so far and kept them in safe habitats. He made the statement while responding to media questions at his Janata Darbar held on Thursday in Thane city. Naik said the number of leopards have increased fourfold over 7-8 years, with higher numbers reported in Junnar, Ambegaon, Shirur and Nashik.He said leopard safaris would be started in every district of Konkan and western Maharashtra, and tiger safaris in Vidarbha, adding that work to prepare a plan for them was underway. — B B Nayak
