Leopard scare grips NIRD Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Employees of National Institute of Rural Development and residents on campus at Rajendranagar are under the grip of leopard scare.

One of the faculty who saw a carcass of a wild boar in the campus on his morning walk on Tuesday informed the authorities about possible leopard attack.

The wild boar succumbed to injuries. A team of foresters visited the campus of NIRD and failed to find out any pugmarks of the big cat.

Anti Poaching squad forest department FRO T Ramesh Kumar said,"Our team went around the entire campus. We didn't find any leopard traces like pugmarks or scathe. The wild boar carcass remnants are the only skeleton bones. There are a lot of stray dogs on the campus. Dogs may have hunted down the wild boar. We are trying to ascertain the facts,"

Foresters asked the security guards of the NIRD campus to keep tab and alert them as and when they found a pug mark or leopard movement.

"NIRD campus has a water body and staff were asked to keep an eye there. It is unlikely of leopard kill. But we are still checking on it," said a wildlife wing official.

NIRD provides training on rural development and panchayat Raj courses. Experts on vertebrate pests said that the campus is full of feral pigs a breed of both domesticated pigs and wild boars.

"We have developed sound techniques to scare away the pigs," said officials.

Forest officials said leopard spotting in and around Hyderabad had increased notably in Rangareddy and Sangareddy districts.

In 2019 several instances of leopard spottings reported. Forest officials will be putting up the cages with a dog or goat as bait in the campus if the pug marks are confirmed.

"We will visit the campus again," said an official of Anti Poaching Squad.

PIC credit: Srikaanth Sekar