The Hindu : Front Page : Leopard found dead on outskirts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 10, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Leopard found dead on outskirts

Staff Reporter

— Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

Sad end: The leopard which was found dead near Jawaharnagar in Shamirpet mandal on Saturday.

HYDERABAD: A leopard, which strayed into the hillocks near the Jawaharnagar dump yard on the city outskirts, got caught in a metal snare and died. The carcass was noticed by quarry workers on Saturday morning. The eight-year-old big may have strayed into the shrub jungle abutting the dump yard and got caught in the metal snares put up by local people to catch wild boar, it is surmised. Forest Department officials believe that the animal could have died on Friday night.

Workers shocked

The carcass of the spotted leopard was found on the narrow passage of the hillock, which quarry workers use regularly. The workers go atop the hillock by 6 a.m. and come down by 10 a.m. every day. Two of them, K. Ramesh and Raju, got a shock of their lives when they noticed the leopard, which appeared to be sleeping.

Scared out of their wits, they ran back to inform their fellow workers. Mustering courage, a dozen of them huddled themselves into a group and ventured to come down again. “We threw some stones at it to see whether it would run away. But it was not moving,” they said. The workers inched their way ahead only to notice that the four-feet-long leopard was dead.

After reconfirming that it was dead, they informed villagers of Jawaharnagar, who in turn alerted the police and the Forest Department officials.

There were no visible wounds on the animal except a ligature mark around the neck suggesting that it walked into a snare and got killed as the noose tightened. However, the snare was not found on its neck. But there were three snares made of two-wheeler gear wires found tied to trees on the hillock, a few yards away from where the carcass was found.

Police surmise that the person, who put the snare, could have removed it, after realising that his prey was not a wild boar but a leopard. “Fearing legal action, he could have simply removed it and fled,” the police said. However, Forest Range Officer, M. Janakiram maintained that cause of its death could not be confirmed unless an autopsy was done.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page