Another Leopard Caught at Tirumala, 4th Captured in a Month

Tirupati: Forest officials captured another wild leopard at the Tirumala Ghat in Andhra Pradesh on Monday morning. It is the fourth leopard caught in the Tirumala area following the start of ‘Operation Leopard’ earlier this month.

‘Operation Leopard’ was started on August 15 as several leopards were sighted on the walkway to the hilltop Tirupati temple. A girl was mauled to death by a leopard earlier this month.

The four leopards trapped in the Tirumala area were shifted to the Tirupathi Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park.

Earlier this month, in two separate incidents two children were attacked by leopards while they were on their way to the Tirupati temple. A girl was killed and a boy was injured by the wild cats.

After that, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) board and forest officials set up CCTVs and cages to trap the leopards. Now 300 CCTV cameras have been set up to monitor wildlife movement. The number of CCTV cameras will be increased to 500 in the coming days for the safety of devotees.

Two leopards wandering within five hundred meters of the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple were caught. On August 17, a third leopard was caught on the Tirumala Footway.