TUMAKURU: Some roads in Tumakuru district have turned into death traps for wild animals, especially those that move around in the night. In a fresh incident, a female bear aged about five years crossing Kunigal-Bengaluru Highway near Irakkasandra of Koratagere in Tumakuru was knocked down by an unknown vehicle around 8.30 pm on Sunday. Forest officials conducted a necropsy and confirmed that it was a road kill.
A forest official told Deccan Chronicle that a bear was killed some days ago near Irakkasandra barely 200 metres from the spot where the present road kill has occurred. In another road kill near Huliyurudurga in the district, a leopard was run over by an unidentified vehicle. The carcass of the leopard was noticed by villagers, who informed the forest officials.
There have been a number of road kills of leopards on National Highway-75 passing through Kunigal taluk in the past, forest officials said. Mr T.V.N. Murthy of the Wildlife Aware Nature Club, who is also a former honorary wildlife warden, said that signboards have been installed on roads warning people of probable animal crossing paths, but these are unattractive and do not convey the message to motorists. He said that signboards should be modelled on those put up by the Railways educating people.
