TIRUMALA: A leopard was trapped late last night in one of the cages set up by forest officials following the incident where a six-year-old girl was mauled to death by a wild animal two days ago.
The three-year-old leopard was caught in the cage set up near the place where the girl was found dead.
Forest and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) officials have been on alert since the girl's death.
They had even restricted the movement of devotees on the ghat roads as well as trekking paths leading to Tirumala.
The girl, identified as Lakshitha, had gone missing on Friday night near Narasimha Swamy temple while walking with her parents - Dinesh and Sasikala from Pothireddypalem village of Kovvur mandal (block) in Nellore district - at the Seventh Mile point on the pedestrian route from Alipiri.
She was found dead at Lakshminarasimhaswamy temple on Saturday, officials said.
Lakshitha's father, Dinesh, told ANI, “While climbing the Alipiri footway in Tirumala, my daughter, who was a few steps ahead, went to purchase a biscuit packet. Due to the heavy crowd of devotees, we assumed that she had gone further ahead of us, but after some time we could not find her. Later, she was found dead near Lakshminarasimha Swamy temple.”
Media reports state that the post-mortem of the girl’s body concluded that Lakshita was mauled by a leopard, which had eaten some parts of the body before going back deep into the forests on the hills.
On June 22, a three-year-old boy was attacked by a leopard at the Seventh Mile point adjacent to the Tirumala Ghat road along the Alipiri pedestrian route. The child escaped after fellow pilgrims raised an alarm. The forest authorities captured the leopard the next day and released it into the wild later.
Meanwhile, as part of security measures, Tirupati police have introduced security identification tags to children going on foot to Tirumala. People are being advised to hold on to their children till they arrive at Tirumala.
Citing what factors might have contributed to leopards’ preference for hunting humans instead of their natural prey, Andhra Pradesh Chief Conservator of Forests, Shantipriya Pandey, told TNIE: “Leopards are nocturnal creatures, often hunting under cover of darkness. The unfortunate young girl found alone and not in a group, became a vulnerable target due to the dimly lit walking track. The lack of light and isolated presence made her an easy prey for the predator.”
(With online desk inputs)