The leopard population has increased in the state even during drought conditions, (File image)
ANANTAPUR: The leopard population has increased in the state even during drought conditions, mainly in the Rayalaseema region in the past four years.
The Status of Leopards in India-2022 report released by the Centre the other day revealed that 569 leopards existed as against 492 during the 2018 census. The number of leopards could be more because the movement of wild cats was not tracked in non-reserved forest and hillock areas of Rayalaseema region.
Many municipal towns and mandal headquarters existed in various parts of the hillock areas during the reign of Palegars five centuries ago. Palegars and other kings had formed habitations along with inter-connected forts on hillock areas and along the borders of the villages.
Experts say the leopard population has been spreading because of easy availability of monkeys and deer.
In Anantapur and Sathya Sai districts alone, five municipal towns have been part of the array of hills and forts while dozens of mandal headquarters are connected with hills and forest areas, providing shelter for the leopards.
A forest official observes that the number of wild cats is more than what was listed in the report. Forest survey teams normally depend on CC cameras and peg marks of the leopards during their surveys to count the population in reserved forests, but many leopards could not be listed in the report.
For instance, leopards have been frequent visitors at Kalyandurg, Rayadurg and Madakasira towns as they were entering from local hill areas in search of water and food.
All the hill areas have monkeys while plains in Karnataka borders were widely spread with black bucks till Kurnool district. At least five leopards of various ages were killed either by accident or by food poisoning in the district.
In the last month, a year and a half old leopard was hit by a vehicle on NH 44 near Penukonda. It was shifted to Tirupati zoo for treatment but died after two days.
Forest officials say the people in hillock areas and closer to forests were also changing their mindset positively, towards rescuing the wild cats without harming them as against previous instances of violence against these.
The Status of Leopards in India-2022 report released by the Centre the other day revealed that 569 leopards existed as against 492 during the 2018 census. The number of leopards could be more because the movement of wild cats was not tracked in non-reserved forest and hillock areas of Rayalaseema region.
Many municipal towns and mandal headquarters existed in various parts of the hillock areas during the reign of Palegars five centuries ago. Palegars and other kings had formed habitations along with inter-connected forts on hillock areas and along the borders of the villages.
Experts say the leopard population has been spreading because of easy availability of monkeys and deer.
In Anantapur and Sathya Sai districts alone, five municipal towns have been part of the array of hills and forts while dozens of mandal headquarters are connected with hills and forest areas, providing shelter for the leopards.
A forest official observes that the number of wild cats is more than what was listed in the report. Forest survey teams normally depend on CC cameras and peg marks of the leopards during their surveys to count the population in reserved forests, but many leopards could not be listed in the report.
For instance, leopards have been frequent visitors at Kalyandurg, Rayadurg and Madakasira towns as they were entering from local hill areas in search of water and food.
All the hill areas have monkeys while plains in Karnataka borders were widely spread with black bucks till Kurnool district. At least five leopards of various ages were killed either by accident or by food poisoning in the district.
In the last month, a year and a half old leopard was hit by a vehicle on NH 44 near Penukonda. It was shifted to Tirupati zoo for treatment but died after two days.
Forest officials say the people in hillock areas and closer to forests were also changing their mindset positively, towards rescuing the wild cats without harming them as against previous instances of violence against these.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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