A horrific incident of poaching, wherein a leopard was killed and burnt, has surfaced more than a month after its occurrence in Siddipet district.
According to sources, a group of wildlife poachers set up a trap purportedly to catch wild boars in Godugupally beat of Dubbaka range in Ibrahimpur Reserve Forest on February 26. A leopard was trapped instead and is said to have died in the trap. In order to erase the evidence, the poachers burnt the carcass.
However, foresters got wind of the incident, and a poacher was subsequently arrested; a snare was seized from him. The police found a mobile phone with images of the trapped leopard—the only incriminating evidence available. The forest authorities have also collected remnants of the animal from where it was burnt.
