TIRUMALA: Finally, the leopard, which mauled six-year-old girl, Lakshitha, to death on the Alipiri pedestrian path in Tirumala seven months ago, was identified after much technical research.
Based on the 80-page report submitted by Indian Institute of Science and Education and Research (IISER), the forest department concluded that the leopard was the one that was captured by the forest department on August 28.
It was one among the six leopards that were captured between July 21 to September 2 in the last year, after the first incident of attack on a three-year-old boy by the leopard on July 20.
The officials informed that the leopard will now be kept in SV Zoo Park in Tirupati permanently. It can be recalled that on August 11, 2023, Lakshitha was attacked by a leopard while she was trekking to Tirumala with her parents near the 7th mile.
The incident came to light the next morning. The victim was a resident of Pothireddypalem in Nellore district. Subsequently, the TTD forest wing and the forest department intensified their efforts and nabbed a total of six leopards.
Four of them were released into the wild, after confirming that they were not responsible for the attack. The two others were kept in captivity. The research involved examining the blood and DNA samples collected from the victim and matching the same with the captured leopards. After months of research zeroed in on the leopard that killed her.