Kurnool: A male leopard, estimated to be about a year old, was found dead on a road on the Racharla Ghat section near Garladinne village in Papili mandal on Sunday. Forest officials said that it had died after being hit by a lorry.
Kurnool divisional forest officer Chandrasekhar told this newspaper that it was for the first time that such an incident had been reported in the division. He said leopards being nocturnal animals move during the night and vehicles often could not see them which could have led to the accident.
He said on getting information he reached the spot and found the animal with a head injury. A post mortem had been conducted, he said.
This is the second incident of a leopard kill in the last three days. On November 16, a female leopard, also about a year old, was found dead on the railway tracks near Chelima village in Nandyal forest division.
On September 1, a leopard died at Mittapalle in Allagadda mandal under suspicious circumstances. Officials said that it was drawn into a canal while drinking water at the Telugu Ganga canal.
On March 28, a female tiger about 18 months old was found dead at Naramamidi Cheruvu locality of Pecheruvu East beat of Srisailam range in the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NTSR). The post mortem report said it was a natural death. But there were several theories doing the rounds that the tiger had been poisoned by poachers.
On December 16, 2017, forest officials in pursuit of a tigress and two cubs appeared to have netted two 11-month-old at a field in Jamminagar tanda of Velugodu mandal. One of the cubs died due to an alleged overdose of anesthesia.
