TIRUPATI: A leopard, reportedly responsible for the death of six-year-old girl Lakshitha last Friday, was captured by the state forest authorities near the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple on the Alipiri walkway to Tirumala.
According to divisional forest officer (DFO) Nageswara Rao, around 1.30 am on Monday, the leopard walked into the cage set up near the public viewpoint close to the Narasimha Swamy temple, the very spot where the girl's body was found. The wild animal was later transferred to the S.V. zoo park in Tirupati. According to forest officials, the leopard that was trapped was a full grown adult aged over five years.
Speaking to reporters here, additional principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) for wildlife, Shantipriya Pandey said that a DNA analysis is underway in collaboration with a local IISER team to definitively determine if the captured leopard was the same one that had mauled Lakshitha. She also said that the samples collected from the leopard will also be cross-referenced with those of a leopard responsible for a similar attack on a three-year-old boy in June.
The investigation includes a range of samples, from urine and hair strands taken from the leopard to blood stains and saliva samples extracted from the scene where the girl was attacked. Should the analysis confirm that the leopard had killed the girl, Pandey said that the animal will be kept in captivity due to its consumption of human flesh.
However, until the DNA analysis report is released, which is expected to take about a week, the exact identity of the attacker cannot be definitively determined, the additional PCCF added. She said that the unusual nature of the attack suggested that the pattern resembled that of a bear given the severity of injuries.
Meanwhile, she informed that the department has recommended short and long-term measures to ensure the safety of the devotees.
“The measures include a 24x7 wildlife outpost at the seventh mile, tasked with monitoring animal movement and sending timely alerts to TTD officials and security staff. The precautions involve having a tranquilizing team and a rescue van on standby, as well as increasing the number of personnel along the pilgrim pathways and training the veterinary staff”, she explained.
Pandey also advised restrictions on evening pedestrian movement, given that animals in the Tirumala region are predominantly nocturnal.
She underlined the potential implementation of animal passages and crossing points, based on expert advice, as part of long-term strategies to mitigate such incidents.
