Yet another leopard found moving in Tirumala forest

Tirupati: A leopard was found moving in the forest area between Narasimha Swamy (NT) temple and Mokalimitta area near the Alipiri footpath to Tirumala, according to chief conservator of forests (CCF) Nageswar Rao. Addressing the media here on Wednesday, the senior forest official said the leopard movement was tracked from the 50 images in the `trap camera’ set up in the forest area and added that the leopard and also a bear moving in the area will be trapped soon. In all, he said 300 `trap cameras’ have been set up in the Tirumala forest near the Alipiri footpath and 80 in the forest of Srivarimettu footpath area to track the movement of wild animals.

A big contingent of 100 forest employees were deployed in the forests to keep a watch on wild animal movements and for the security of pilgrims trekking the hills through the two footpaths, he said and added that the TTD, the temple management was extending all out support to the forest department to contain the menace of the wild animals in the footpath areas.

On the safety of pilgrims going to Tirumala by walking on the steps path, he said they should go in a group 100 for safety and must hold their children with them till they reach Tirumala. In the same breath, he said the pilgrims need not fear or panic but only be wary of wild animals in the forests near the footpath to Tirumala. Stating that the wild animal threat in the footpaths will be warded off with the capture of the lone leopard found moving in the forests near the footpath, he said the DNA report of the two captured leopards quarantined in SV Zoo Park will come out in a week revealing the identity of the big cat that killed the six-year-old girl Lakshita on August 11 while she was going to Tirumala along with her family, in the Narasimha Swamy temple area.

It may be noted here that a boy Koushik from Kurnool district survived in a leopard attack on June 22 while Lakshita lost her life in the wild cat attack on August 11 following which the TTD and Forest department initiated unprecedented safety measures and also imposed restrictions on the movement of pilgrims on the footpaths. While, 3 leopards were trapped including one in June and two in August, massive efforts are going on to trap the remaining wild animals moving near the forest area of the 2 footpaths.