HYDERABAD: The ghost of poaching is back to haunt University of Hyderabad as a calf of a spotted deer was found dead, stuck in a snare at the university campus on Sunday afternoon.
UoH is not new to the issue. Last year, three persons were booked on university campus for killing and trying to consume meat of a spotted deer on campus. Spotted deer, known as Chital, is a protected species under Wildlife Protection Act and is the state animal of Telangana.
There have been many instances where snares were recovered from the campus meant to catch spotted deer, wild boars, peacocks and monitor lizards which can be found on campus.
A forest department official said, “The deer was around 4-5 months old. The snare seems to have been laid for catching a hare but as it was a deer calf which is small in size, it got caught in the snare and died. There were two other snares in the area.”
When contacted, Conservator of Forests, SN Kukrety, said, “The university should take pride in being home to a diversity of wildlife on its campus and take initiatives to ensure that they are protected. When such cases arise the university should inform us about it soon so that we can take required action.”
However, an official of the university said, “Security officials in the university are doing their best. Last year we saved a few deer which were attacked by stray dogs and also helped GHMC in trapping and sterilising a few stray dogs. For protection of wildlife separately trained staff with necessary equipment is required. University campus is vast and has wild boars which are ferocious animals. The forest officials should come forward in helping the university conserve its wildlife.”
Jillapalli Ravi, a PhD scholar at the university and member of Wild Lens, a wildlife enthusiast group on campus said, “I found the carcass in the afternoon after which I informed the forest officials. This is the first such case this year. Last year around 44 deer carcasses were found by us on campus. Stray dogs and poachers are the culprits behind the deer deaths.”