Five leopards have died in State in a year

The leopard found dead on the national highway in Nizamabad early on Friday is the fifth such casualty in a year in the State, and the fourth to die reportedly in an accident.

Of the five, four deaths were in Nizamabad district, of which two were reported to be in road accidents.

On Friday, the young female was found dead on the divider of the national highway, and the post-mortem revealed fractured fore and hind legs on the right.

Strangely, there were no bleeding injuries on the body, District Forest Officer N.V.S.N. Prasad said.

Last year in July, a leopard was found hanging from the power lines in the district, leaving authorities flummoxed as to how it reached there. The mystery was never solved. This January, another leopard was seriously injured after being hit by a train near Sirnapally forest of Nizamabad. It was rescued, but died later while undergoing treatment at Nehru Zoological Park.

In February, a male leopard was found dead on the Jankampet-Basar road, and the officials surmised that it was a hit-and-run incident by an unidentified heavy vehicle. In March, a leopard was found dead in Kamareddy district under mysterious circumstances, and the reasons for its death remains clouded.

Activists see red about serial leopard deaths in the district, and suspect wanton killings.

“There were no bleeding injuries on the latest carcass. The cat might have got ensnared in the trap set up by farmers for wild boars. Later, they might have thrown it on the road,” says an activist.