Leopard found dead in snare at Metlapalli in Krishna

Vijayawada: A five-year-old male leopard was found dead after it got trapped in a snare meant for wild boars at Metlapalli village of Gannavaram mandal, Krishna district, on Thursday.

Forest authorities booked a case against the owner and tenant of the farmland where the leopard was found dead.

Officials said the leopard was found at the common border of a Patta Land and Metlapalli reserve forest area. This was for the first time the presence of a leopard was noticed.

Foresters suspect that the leopard might have been on the move in search of a prey from Papikonda National Park and they are looking for links of the leopard which was found earlier in the vicinity of Rajahmundry but turned elusive.

The foresters made efforts to catch the leopard sighted near Rajahmundry by setting up camera traps but in vain.

Krishna region DFO P Suneetha said, “We have found a leopard trapped and dead in a snare meant for wild boars in the morning. We booked a case and conducted a post-mortem. We will do an inquiry to find out the circumstances leading to its death.”