Siddipet: Camera traps, cage placed to trap Leopard, its cubs at Burugupally

Villagers had earlier sighted two leopard cubs on Tuesday evening and on being alerted the forest officials visited the place and arranged camera traps and a cage with bait immediately

Siddipet: As the villagers sighted a leopard and two cubs, the forest officials placed a cage and three camera traps on Burugupally village outskirts to trap the leopard and its cubs.

Villagers had earlier sighted two leopard cubs on Tuesday evening and on being alerted the forest officials visited the place and arranged camera traps and a cage with bait immediately. The officials have posted people to keep a watch on the movement of the leopard. Later they arranged two more camera traps on Wednesday morning. Though the forest officials collected the pug marks in agriculture fields, forest range officer Sididpet, Ikramuddin said that the pug marks were not clear.

---

Since there was no reserve forest at least five kilometres away from Burugupally, the sighting of the leopard here left the forest officials confused. Forest officers say they had never sighted a leopard in reserve forest block of Thornala, which is located five kilometres away from Burugupally. According to villagers, the mother of two cubs was a bit sick and it was moving very slowly. The forest officials said that they got another piece of information about ten days ago from some villagers who claimed to have sighted a leopard at Irkode village.

The forest officials educated the citizens not to venture out alone in the wake of the leopard movement. Since the leopard had two cubs, the officials said that it would be aggressive. Meanwhile, the villagers of Burugupally and neighbouring villages were living in fear after coming to know about the wildcat movement. They urged the officials to trap the leopard and leave it deep in the forest.