400 trap cameras setup to capture leopard, sloth bear movements in Tirumala

TIRUPATI: Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF) Nageswara Rao from the Tirupati wildlife management circle, has said that as many as 400 trap cameras have been installed on the pedestrian routes to Tirumala to capture the movements of leopards and sloth bears.

Speaking to media on Wednesday, Nageswara Rao said that the forest department officials had traced the movement of a leopard and sloth bear in the wee hours of Wednesday enroute Tirumala. As many as 100 forest department staff were involved in an operation to capture the animals. However, they wild animals narrowly missed the trap arranged by the department and fled the spot, he said.

Nageswara Rao said that the leopard had almost reached the cage arranged for its trap but managed to escape from the staff. Similarly, a sloth bear also fled the spot when the staff tried to capture it with a tranquiliser dart. “We have appointed special teams to capture the leopard and sloth bear, which are creating a panic among the devotees thronging the hill shrine. Steps are being taken to capture the wild animals at the earliest. Devotees are requested not to panic and follow the precautionary measures suggested by the TTD and forest department while thronging the hill shrine,” he said.

The CCF said that it was confirmed that the six-year-old girl Lakshita was mauled to death by a leopard while she was trekking the Tirumala hills along with her parents from Alipiri on August 12. “We are waiting for the lab reports to confirm the leopard which killed Lakshitha among the two captured by the forest department earlier,” Nageswara Rao said.