21 March 2017 – As our rescue crew returned in Cikananga after yesterday’s rescue operation at Halimun Salak, we got information about a human-animal conflict with a Javan Leopard in the Cianjur area. At arrival different sources claimed the leopard walked from the forest 5 km down to a village where it tried to attack people. The young Leopard -approximately 1,5 to 2 years old- was already captured and in a seriously bad condition as he was clearly dehydrated, very skinny and very weak. Releasing him even in the forest would bin risk full, considering the physical state and the danger for another human-animal conflict. So we moved the animal to Cikananga.
Apparently the Leopard is completely exhausted and slept throughout the morning. We placed him in a more spacious enclosure and we will monitor him closely as we are hoping for a full recovery.
The developments of the last days shows again how urgent the situation of the Javan Leopard is. Rescuing another Javan Leopard to Cikananga is again a difficult situation because apart from the challenges for appropriate housing, the perspectives of releasing Javan Leopards is currently close to zero. Although we are working very hard change this situation and to protect the Javan Leopard from vanishing from the wild. Please contact us if you want to make a difference to change the future for Javan Leopards: info@wanicare.com
But, there is positive news: The Halimun Salak-rangers informed us that the Javan Leopard from the first operation was not spotted anymore around the release site, implicating that he is back in the forests where he belongs.
