Two leopards, including a one-and-a-half-year-old cub, were found dead in a suspected case of poisoning in the Ramavaram reserve forest area in Chandrugonda mandal on Sunday.
According to sources, the partially decomposed carcasses of the two leopards, both female, were recovered by the Forest department staff near a hillock in the reserve forest in Abbugudem beat of Ramavaram forest range in Kothagudem forest division in the morning.
The carcass of the adult leopard, believed to be the mother of the dead cub, had its paws chopped off by suspected poachers, apparently for the claws. The carcass of the cub was found barely 200 metres away from the spot where the adult leopard was found dead amid thick bushes. A team of veterinarians conducted a post-mortem examination on the spot. It appeared that the two leopards had been poisoned to death five to six days ago, Kothagudem Divisional Forest Officer S Shantha Ram said. The viscera samples of the two leopards were sent to the forensic science laboratory in Hyderabad to ascertain the exact cause of their death, he said.
