Fourth leopard captured in Tirumala, shifted to Tirupati Zoo

In the wake of wild animal attacks on children at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh, another leopard, fourth one, was captured in the wee hours of Monday, said a forest official.

The male leopard, estimated to be about five years old, was captured at the seventh mile near Anjaneya Swamy statue around 4 am, the official said.

The forest department has shifted the leopard to Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park (Tirupati Zoo).

"This leopard had been eluding capture since August 17. It used to come near the trap and leave as it had seen the earlier leopards getting captured. So, we took several measures to trap it," Tirupati district forest officer (DFO) A Srinivasulu told PTI.

Flashes were deactivated from cameras and animal scents were sprayed to remove human smell near the trap site, he said.

As the last three captured leopards, all male, were of the same age, forest officials are suspecting if they were siblings from the same mother.

Meanwhile, Srinivasulu confirmed that it was a leopard which had killed a minor girl recently at Tirumala.