Captured leopard cubs left by mother in Maskeliya estate to be kept back again
Source:Dailymirror
Workers holding the juvenile leopard cubs. Picture by Ranjith Rajapakse
Estate workers had found two mountain leopard cubs on a tea estate in the Maskeliya area and handed them over to the officers of the Nallathanniya Wildlife Office on July 17.
The two mountain lion cubs about a month old, were found when the mother of the cubs would have brought the cubs and kept them in a safe place on the tea estate, while she went hunting for prey.
Estate workers had seen the two cubs and informed officers of the Nallathanniya Wildlife Office through the estate administrative authority. An officer of the Nallathanniya Wildlife Office said that required steps have been taken to give back the two mountain leopard cubs to their mother on the advice the veterinarian of the Randenigala Veterinarian office.
Leopard mothers often refuse to accept their cubs on tea estates after being caught and touched by humans so the life of the cubs should be protected by giving them the opportunity to stay in the place where they were discovered, Wildlife officials said.
They also said that the mother of the cubs who would have gone looking for prey will return to the same place and take her cubs to safety.
