Tirupati: A leopard and bear have been spotted on trap cameras installed along the Alipiri pedestrian route near Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple enroute to Tirumala between December 13 and December 26.
The sighting has raised an alarm among forest and TTD authorities, who have advised that devotees trekking to Tirumala remain vigilant.
"Though wildlife sightings are common in the forest area, we have alerted our staff and TTD to increase patrolling and take precautions,” Tirupati Wildlife DFO G. Satish stated.
In light of this, TTD and the forest officials have appealed to devotees planning the Alipiri-Tirumala trek to only traverse the route only in large groups. The DFO has reassured that they are constantly monitoring the pathways with over 300 trap cameras.
This is not the first-time that wild animals have been spotted along the walkways. Past instances of leopard and bear attacks have been reported on the Alipiri and Srivari Mettu routes. In a shocking incident in August 2022, a leopard had mauled a six-year-old boy to death on the Alipiri walkway.
Consequently, authorities launched “Operation Chirutha'” to capture leopards entering the inhabited areas near the temple. So far, six leopards have been captured. After vetting, three have been released back into the wild.
