KakinadaForest officials were in the midst of search operations on Sunday after a surveillance camera spotted a leopard moving around Lalacheruvu near Rajamahendravaram in East Godavari district last week. The immediate threat appears to be on the residents of the Lalacheruvu Housing Board Colony.
The forest department team searching for the big cat will be headed by Kakinada district forest officer Bharani. Doctors from Visakhapatnam zoo and local forest officials have also joined the search operations. The leopard, as per the picture taken of it on Friday, is believed to be around eight years old.
Conservator of forests Srinivasa Reddy told Deccan Chronicle that the team of experts has installed cameras at four locations to track the animal. He said that after capturing the leopard, doctors will examine its health and then experts will decide when it will be released in dense forest areas.
Srinivasa Reddy believes that floods may have forced the leopard to move to human settlements. He also said that a leopard was also spotted in Diwancheruvu reserve forest in Rajanagaram mandal ten years ago.
District Forest Officer Bharani told media that people in Swaroopnagar, Padmavahinagar, Rupanagar, Sriramnagar, Tarakaramanagar, AP Housing Board Colony and its surrounding areas should be alert and should not step out of their homes after 6:00 p.m.
He said the leopard is moving near the Diwancheruvu reserve forest area.
He said officials cannot say how many days it will take to capture the animal.
He asked people to inform his team if they have any information about the leopard on the toll-free number: 18004295909.
Bathula Bala Ramakrishna, a legislator from Rajanagaram, said people should cooperate with forest department officials.