Hyderabad: Forest department officials captured another leopard, fourth in the past two months in Tirumala.
The animal was trapped and caged near the Alipiri footpath, leading to the Lord Venkateswara temple.
The capture activity was executed in the vicinity of the 7th mile during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.
This capture comes within a fortnight of the third leopard being caught which was after wild animal attacks on children in the area.
Tragically, one of these attacks resulted in a fatality, following which the forest department employed various strategies to ensure safety.
However, for this leopard, initial attempts proved futile as the animal evaded the traps set up for it.
After employing various techniques, the authorities finally managed to secure the leopard at the 7th-mile location last night.
As per the protocols, the latest capture will be quarantined for 10 days at the Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park.
During its stay at the park, the animal will be subjected to DNA analysis to ascertain whether it has consumed human flesh, a crucial step in understanding its behaviour and potential threat to humans.
While the forest department awaits the DNA analysis report of the two leopards caught earlier, the comparison between the DNA profiles of the three captured leopards will aid in determining which one was responsible for the recent attack on a minor girl.
A six-year-old girl Lakshita was killed in a leopard attack in the second week of August.
The girl and her parents were walking on the Alipiri-Tirumala pedestrian route in the afternoon when a leopard took away the girl. Her body was found the next morning near Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple area.
Forest officials have prioritised monitoring animal movement along the footpath leading to Tirumala after her tragic death.
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