A forest officer in Maharashtra led from the front on issues of environment conservation and wildlife protection by cycling 294 kilometres from Pune to Kolhapur to take charge at his new posting.

Nanasaheb Ladkat, who turned 59 some months ago, cycled on Wednesday, covering a couple of ghat stretches amid the scorching summer heat, to reach Kolhapur after 17 hours, of which 12 hours were spent pedaling.