ANANTAPUR: A pack of wild dogs killed four black bucks, comprising a mother and three of her fawns, after chasing them out of the reserve forest around S. Rajampet village in Siddavatam mandal of YSR Kadapa district during the early hours of Friday.
S. Rajampet villagers found the carcasses of the mother buck and her fawns when they visited their fields on outskirts of the village.
Siddavatam forest officer Prasad and his team rushed to the spot soon after getting information about the death of blackbucks. Their bodies have been taken to Siddavatam Veterinary Hospital for post-mortem. Officials buried their carcasses in the Saheb Bavi camp area near Siddavatam.
This is the first time wild dogs have dared to hunt closer to human habitations. The wild dog population has been increasing in Nallamala and Seshachalam forests, with around 1,500 of them being in the Nallamala forest.
Wild dogs are diurnal hunters of the antelopes. They chase their targets to exhaustion before going in for the kill. Forest officials said a pack of five to nine wild dogs can successfully face a lion or tiger or other wild animals. They can chase their victims to a distance, running at a speed of 100 km per hour.
A census of wild dogs shows their population has been increasing in all parts of the state's dense forests. For past few years, their packs have been being caught on CC cameras installed in forest areas of the Rayalaseema region.
Wild dogs are highly social, living in packs with separate dominance hierarchies for males and females. They neither mingle with other wild dog packs nor with local dogs. An official said wild dogs let the young feed first on carcasses.
