The death of three leopards in the undivided Anantapur district in one and a half months suggests that water resources in the wild are on the verge of drying up, with mercury levels slowly climbing from the second week of March. The fact that all three casualties occurred well away from the forests indicates that the animals strayed into human habitations in search of food and water, say experts.
On February 6, a leopard was fatally knocked down by an unidentified vehicle on the Bengaluru NH near Penukonda in Sri Sathya Sai district. On March 18, the carcass of a leopard was found in a decomposed state in the hillocks of Settur mandal of Anantapur district. On March 19, a leopard was electrocuted when it scaled a transformer at an agriculture field in Kuderu mandal of the same district. In all three incidents, forest officials ruled out the angle of poaching or hunting.
Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts are known for perennial drought conditions around the year, with the two rivers of Chitravathi and Pennar witnessing modest inflows, that too only during the monsoon.
