In a major relief to the trekking pilgrims, forest officials on Monday, August 28, 2023, captured an eluding leopard on the footpath leading to the hill temple of Lord Venkateswara.
This is the fourth leopard that is being captured after the nightmarish incident on June 22 wherein a six-year-old survived an abortive attempt on his life in a leopard attack.
According to Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) Nageswara Rao, the evading beast walked into the cage set up at the seventh mile in the vicinity of Prasanna Anjaneya Wwamy idol on the Alipiri footpath. The leopard which has been evading the trap for the past few days after its movement was captured in over 200 trap cameras last week is a fully grown and heavily built one. The animal has been ferried down to Sri Venkateswara Zoo park in Tirupati to enable forensic experts carry out medical tests on it.
The first leopard that was captured in June was let out into the wild in the deep Seshachalam forests after medical reports confirmed that it was not a man eater.
However, the other two leopards which were captured in a span of four days after the ghastly incident on August 12, wherein a six-year-old girl was mauled to death in a wild beast attack, are still housed in the zoo park. It remains yet to be established as to which of these three captured leopards was responsible for the girl’s death. While the predator responsible for the girl’s death will be housed in the zoopark the other two will be let out into the wild. A decision however will be arrived at, only after obtaining reports of the forensic experts.
In reply to a question Rao said that the cages will be retained at the seventh mile. With the assistance of TTD, the department has set-up over 300 trap cameras along side the Tirumala footpath and efforts are on to secure another 500 cameras additionally. Even though, no movement of other leopards has been felt, the department will maintain a strict vigil on the treking route and it will be a regular exercise.
To another question, he said though the images of a wild bear has been captured in trap cameras, its movement had not been felt during the past one week. It was too early to comment on its retreat into the forests, he said.
