Hyderabad: A leopard was found dead under suspicious circumstances in the revenue land hillocks of Kambaduru in Rayadurg range of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh.
According to forest officials, the claws, teeth and skin of the leopard are intact. “It was a female leopard, aged around seven years. Locals informed the mandal revenue officer (MRO) on Saturday evening and he alerted us.
The carcass was found in hillocks owned by the revenue department in the wee hours of Sunday. It is not a notified reserve forest,” said Kalyandrug forest range officer, Ram Singh. He added that they are not suspecting the involvement of poachers.
“Veterinarians conducted post mortem on the spot. We burnt the animal’s body after the procedure. As all claws and teeth are intact, we are not suspecting the involvement of poachers. It is also not a case of poising. We have been paying compensation to the locals if any cattle gets killed. There are neither instances of cattle carcass poisoning nor signs of electrocution. The leopard died three days back. We suspect it to be a death due to disease,” he added.
He also said that around 30 to 40 leopards are spotted in this area regularly. “The spot where this leopard died is 3km away from the village and 30km from Kalyandurg. So far we have not come across any instances of wildlife hunting and poaching,” the official said.