Search on for the elusive leopard cubs on SVU campus

Forest Department conducts perambulation at SVU to rule out presence of leopard cubs, no traces found, cages placed for capture.

With the suspicion over the presence of leopard cubs on the Sri Venkateswara University (SVU) campus, the Forest Department got down to conduct a ‘perambulation’ across the sprawling campus here on Wednesday.

Accompanied by the university’s security personnel, staff members, NSS volunteers and students, the forest guards conducted the mandatory exercise to sieve through the entire campus in order to rule out the possibility of their presence.

Led by Forest Range Officers Nagabhushanam and Sudarshan and NSS bureau coordinator P. Harikrishna, the 100-strong team was divided into four groups, the first followed by the others in succession, that went around the campus, starting with the SVU College of Engineering’s EEE (Electronics and Electrical Engineering) building up to the Pharmaceutical College building, central library building etc. The exercise started at 10.30 a.m. and ended at 4.30 p.m., but no trace of any leopard cubs was found.

Four cages were placed across the campus to capture the elusive leopard that has been making forays into the campus regularly from the abutting Tirumala forests. Soujanya, a forest biologist, found the leopard as intelligent enough to avoid the places inhabited by humans and only focusing on preying upon stray dogs wandering along the periphery of the campus.