Leopard Dies Of Electrocution, Farmer Arrested For Burying Carcass

The accused, Bharatkumar Reddy, had buried the carcass at his farm after panicking over the death of the leopard around five days back.

Simhadripuram: A farmer was arrested for burying the carcass of a leopard which was electrocuted at his farm near Ramapuram village in Lingala mandal of YSR district.

The accused, Bharatkumar Reddy, had buried the carcass at his farm after panicking over the death of the leopard around five days back. The forest officials got information on the incident from social media after a photograph of the leopard at Reddy's farm went viral. Following the social media reports, forest range officer of Muddanur, Srinivas visited the spot and conducted an investigation. When Reddy was questioned, he confessed to have buried the leopard's carcass as the animal had been electrocuted at his farm. Forest officials then exhumed the carcass and conducted a postmortem on it. Reddy was arrested and further probe into the incident is underway.

The population of leopards in Andhra Pradesh increased by 15 per cent from 492 in 2018 to 569 in 2022. This was revealed in ‘Status of Leopards in India - 2022’ report released last year. The report highlighted significant threats to the leopard population in the state. The felines also are at risk from electric fences erected by farmers on their farms to keep away wild boars and other animals. There have been numerous instances of leopards sneaking into human settlements in the state.