On Monday, a male leopard was found dead, seemingly electrocuted, as it was on top of a 12-foot electric pole in Nizamabad’s Mallaram village in Hyderabad.
Villagers making their way to the fields early in the morning were shocked at the sight of the limp animal hanging from the electric pole. Forest officials were immediately alerted and the its body was brought down and sent to the Nizamabad veterinary hospital for an autopsy, as Hindustan Times reported. The post-mortem report stated that the animal died of electrocution.
VSLV Prasad, Nizamabad’s Divisional Forest Officer, said that since there were no trees in the surrounding area, it was surprising how the animal managed to climb up the pole.
Leopards are capable of climbing up long trees and so, this leopard also might have climbed the pole
The leopard in all likelihood came in contact with the high-tension wires which electrocuted it, Prasad added.
It appears that the leopard entered the area from the neighbouring forest which is just half a kilometre away.
Prasad said that leopards normally come from the forests in search of prey like sheep but in recent times, there’s been no complaints from villagers about any such incidents.
Initial suspicions of the wild cat being killed by poachers was ruled out.
It was a five-year-old male leopard weighing nearly 80 kgs. It is virtually impossible for poachers to dump the body on top of a 12-ft electric pole. Moreover, the poachers generally dump bodies of wild animals after skinning it and removing its nails and teeth. But here, nothing of that sort has happened.
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