Leopards, hyenas, wild boars keep people in Medak on tenterhooks

With the dwindling forest area and lack of prey base and scarcity of water inside forests in the district, wild animals are venturing out into human inhabitations in erstwhile Medak quite frequently, posing a serious threat to the life of both the humans and domestic animals.

Medak: With the dwindling forest area and lack of prey base and scarcity of water inside forests in the district, wild animals are venturing out into human inhabitations in erstwhile Medak quite frequently, posing a serious threat to the life of both the humans and domestic animals.

The increasing population of wild boars is also posing a serious threat to humans in parts of the district. In Kowdipally on June 28, a man died after he lost control of his when he tried to avoid a pack of wild boars crossing the road at Tuniki.

---

Mahesh Goud, 28, a resident of Jakkapally, went on to crash his car into a lorry, losing his life on the spot.

In Chinnakodur of Siddipet, a hyena has been prowling about in villages quite frequently. It has already killed dozens of goats, sheep and calves for over two months now.

In Ramayampet, the frequency of leopard attacks on cattle and other domestic animals is on the rise, with people in Jhansi Lingapur in the mandal waking up on Wednesday to see the half eaten carcass of a calf. Farmer Ippa Raju had left his cattle in a shed on the outskirts of the village last night. This morning, when he reached the spot to milk the buffaloes, he found the carcass of a calf. For Raju, this was the second such loss in the last few months, with another leopard attack having claimed one of his cattle earlier.

Just four days ago, commuters along the Medak-Yellareddy road shot videos of a leopard when it came very close to the road in Havelighanpur mandal. Medak Forest Range Officer Manoj Kumar said leopard sightings were usually reported in villages located on the forest fringes. However, they had never attacked humans in the district, he said. On Saturday’s leopard sighting on the roadside, Manoj said the road was passing through the forest and the leopard was crossing the road.

Meanwhile, efforts of Siddipet forest officials to capture the hyena in Chinnakodur mandal remained unsuccessful. Though they placed a trap with a bait and installed camera traps as well in the area, the hyena has remained elusive and has continued to kill domestic animals in different villages in Chinnakodur mandal.

Farmers spending sleepless nights have been demanding the Forest officials to trap the hyena before it killed more animals in the mandal.