Mahbubnagar Leopard Stays Put on Wildlife-Rich Hillock, Efforts On to Trap It

Hyderabad: An elusive leopard for which a search was mounted more than 10 days ago on a hillock near Mahbubnagar town, continued to keep forest department officials and staff on their toes by refusing to go anywhere close to two trap cages that were lugged up the hillock in the hope of luring the big cat into one of them.

However, a camera trap managed to capture images of the leopard, which district forest officer S. Satyanarayana said, has stayed put on the hillock, and has so far stayed away from getting into any conflict with people who live in residential colonies that surround the area the leopard has been moving in.

It was nearly a fortnight ago that some residents from Verrannapet in Mahbubnagar Urban mandal next to the hillock first reported seeing a leopard. “We first had one trap cage and now there are two. Since we found the spots the leopard has been moving between, our staff carried the two trap cages up the hill and placed them in what we think are good spots to lure the big cat to enter the cage,” Satyanarayana said.

The hillock, he said, was also home to some wild boar, and other smaller wildlife and there is also a water source. “These might be the reasons why the leopard has not attacked any cattle or other domestic animals or come into conflict with people. We have three teams of staff monitoring the hillock round the clock, and also have a camera with a live feed which we can monitor. We hope we can catch the animal soon so people do not have to worry,” Satyanarayana said.