Reports of leopards, or them being caught after efforts by the forest department are not new to Hyderabad
Hyderabad: Reports of leopards, or them being caught after efforts by the forest department are not new to Hyderabad. Incidentally, just a month or so before the leopard was reported from Icrisat in March 2019, there were reports of a leopard in the University of Hyderabad campus, barely a couple of kilometres away as the crow flies, from the Icrisat campus. This had prompted forest officials to launch a search, and place camera traps in the university campus and they later said they could not find any evidence of a leopard.
Just about a month later, in March, the presence of a leopard was confirmed in Icrisat and it was captured in June, after four months of sustained efforts.
Meanwhile, it has come to light that UOH authorities, when the university was being set up, had some trap cages made to catch leopards on the land given for the campus as there were reports and evidence of leopards in the area. Four such cages are still on the university campus and are kept in the now defunct central workshop located opposite the campus post office. These cages were manufactured by the university's engineering wing during construction along with manufacture of metal tables, beds etc., sources said.
INFOGRAPH
Leopards in Hyderabad
August 2014: Leopard trapped by forest department on Icrisat campus
June 2019: Leopard captured on Icrisat campus by forest department.
January 2020: Leopard captured from a house in Shadnagar.
May 2020: Apparently injured leopard seen resting by the road in Katedan industrial estate, caught in October from Rajendranagar.
December 2022: Leopard that strayed into Hetero Drugs plant in Sangareddy, was trapped inside the complex by company staff, captured by forest department.
May 2024: Leopard caught in the Shamshabad airport land.
January 2025: Reports of a leopard in Prof. Jayashankar Agriculture University, possible pugmarks seen, never confirmed.
April 14: Two possible leopards reported on Icrisat campus. They have not yet been identified as leopards.
