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Fear of leopard prowling around Kailasagiri continues

HRD minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao also took stock of the search operation on Saturday.

Visakhapatnam: The fear of a leopard prowling around Kailasagiri Hill following the claims of a security guard of sighting the big cat on Friday evening continues. As the forest officials could not confirm if it was a leopard or other animal. The search operation was going on till the last report came in. In view of the safety of the visitors, even Kailasagiri hill and VUDA Health Arena at the bottom of the hill were closed for visitors on Saturday. Hundreds of tourists who came to visit Kailasagiri were disappointed. The regular morning and evening walkers to the Health Arena who also had to return home are the scared most after hearing the news.

According to Vizag Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Alan Chong Teron, five camera traps with night vision features and motion sensors had been installed along the path from Kailasagiri leading to Kambalakonda forest. “Two teams are also deployed at the suspected places. If the cameras capture anything, we could ascertain whether it is any big cat or just dog,” said the DFO. He also mentioned that pug marks left by the animal did not provide them with any clue as the surface area was rough terrain.

The DFO said that the Kailasagiri and Health Arena may remain closed on Sunday if the search operation needed to be extended. It may be recalled that fear gripped the locals residing in the surroundings of Kailasagiri area on Friday night after the news of leopard roaming there spread like forest fire. The forest officials evacuated public over there and started the search at around 9 pm. After failing to find any animal, teams of forest department started search operation on Saturday morning.

HRD minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao also took stock of the search operation on Saturday. He also said that night vision camera would be set up soon, as this is not for the first time big cats have entered public places in Visakhapatnam. An adult leopard had entered a deserted house in the thickly populated MVP Colony a few years ago. The fragmentation of the wild habitats in the Kambalakonda Reserved Forest area region and nearby forest area has forced wild animals like leopards straying into human habitations in search of food.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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