Foresters finally capture leopard on SVU campus in Tirupati
The animal got trapped in one of the cages placed on the campus. Foresters released it into the forest after a veterinary team confirmed it is healthy.
TIRUPATI: A leopard that had been prowling around the Sri Venkateswara University (SVU) campus in Tirupati for several months has finally been captured by the Forest department on Sunday.
The animal got trapped in one of the cages placed on the campus. Foresters released it into the forest after a veterinary team confirmed it is healthy.
The leopard had been sighted repeatedly in recent times within the SVU campus and surrounding areas, causing concern among students, staff and nearby residents. Forest department suspected that the leopard had been entering the campus from the nearby Tirumala forests. They placed four cages across the university grounds in an attempt to capture it.
A university staff member said a leopard has been sighted nearly 25 times since November 2024. These sightings had been at the campuses of SVU, S.V. Vedic University, and S.V. Veterinary University.
In January, a leopard had been spotted on the Alipiri-Cherlopalli bypass, causing concerns among locals and pilgrims en route to Tirumala. In one incident, a contract employee of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) suffered injuries after falling from his bike following a close encounter with a leopard on the Alipiri-Cherlopalli Road. The animal had jumped from the road median and crossed into the forest adjacent to the SVU campus just as the TTD employee had been passing through the area.
After camera footage confirming the leopard’s presence, Forest department has finally managed to trap it in one of its cages placed at strategic locations.
