The striped hyena sighted at Bejjur in Kumram Bheem Asifabad district on June 28 has safely reached nearby forest after emerging from its temporary hideout, a culvert near the Gollabavi Cheruvu irrigation tank the same evening. The exit of the rare wild animal was captured on the camera trap which was set up by the forest department to monitor its movement.
Bejjur Forest Range Officer M. Ram Mohan told The Hindu that the hyena, a nocturnal animal, emerged from the culvert at about 7 p.m. It was not accompanied by a young one as was thought initially, he pointed out.
Pug mark
“We found its pug mark near a small water body close to the forest which means it has entered the safe zone. Its passage was safe though the forest is located about one km away, the way being interspersed with agriculture fields,” Mr. Ram Mohan, a much relieved officer, said.
The hyena hid in the culvert after villagers raised a commotion earlier in the day on June 28 taking it to be a tiger.
The Forest Department placed six watchers to ensure that no crowd gathers near the hideout to make the exit of the Schedule I animal a safe event.
