Leopard escaped death by a whisker

The leopard of Chilukur which was captured on Thursday evening had a lot to thank its lucky stars for.

The animal would have been run over by a truck on the Outer Ring Road had the driver not been alert enough to spot it at the nick of time.

Forest officials who had been tracking the rescue and release operations, recalled the frantic call by the truck driver, who informed them about the wild cat crossing the road near Narsingi.

“He told us that the animal crossed the road in exactly two bounds, almost coming under the wheel. Had he not been alert, it would have died the same moment,” shared an official.

This is the seventh leopard that has been rescued from around human habitations in Telangana during the past two years.

Two more leopards which have been spotted near habitations of the Mahabubnagar district are yet to be captured, which could take the count to nine.

One of the two animals was spotted close to the Mahabubnagar town, while the second was spotted near a village in Koilkonda mandal in a hilly region which was Revenue land. Three shepherds were attacked by the second leopard recently when they tried to protect their flock from the feline. They received minor injuries while three sheep reportedly were killed by the animal.

In May, 2024, a leopard was caught from the Shamshabad airport campus and released into the Amrabad Tiger Reserve, while in April this year, another which had made the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) campus its home was trapped and released also into Amrabad Tiger Reserve. The increasing number of such rescues strongly indicates lack of food and habitat for the animals in the wild.

The leopard of Chilkur is suspected to have strayed from Vikarabad or Pargi forests in search of food and territory. Forest officials admit that ideally, it should have been sent back to the same forest it was habituated to, unless for the doubts about availability of prey.

“It may have migrated due to lack of prey or territory. Sending it back to the same forest is futile as it could return soon. Hence, we found a better location for it,” said Sudhakar Reddy, the District Forest Officer, Ranga Reddy District.

Chief Wildlife Warden Elusing Meru said the location was chosen because it was a large area, comparatively undisturbed. “We didn’t want to send it to any location which is closer to the city, because there’s likelihood that it would return to the city again,” he said.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force C. Suvarna said such incidents are expected to be repeated often in view of the human habitations expanding into the wild. She cautioned people against poisoning the cattle carcasses as such instances will deprive the owners of the animals of the due compensation.