Poachers, believed to be hailing from Karnataka, killed 11 blackbucks in agriculture fields close to Narayanapuram village in Adoni mandal in Kurnool district on Sunday morning. Preliminary inquiry revealed that they killed the animals with some sharp objects. Blackbuck is the State animal of Andhra Pradesh.
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Conservator of Forests (Kurnool Circle) P. Ramakrishna, District Forest Officer Suman Beniwal and police officials who began the probe into the incident on Monday told The Hindu that the poachers killed 11 blackbucks with some sharp objects. They took away the meat and skin of ten animals, leaving behind the heads. The carcass of another blackbuck was found with injuries.
The people living in the villages nearby told the forest officials that the poachers were speaking in Hindi. The police are searching for the digital footprints or other pieces of evidence of the poachers from all checkpoints on the roads leading to and from Adoni and Aluru.
Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Vigilance) K. Gopinath, who was appointed inquiry officer for the incident, reached Kurnool from Vijayawada. “Blackbuck is listed in the Schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The Forest Department is trying to protect it in all possible ways with the resources available,” said Mr. Gopinath.
The blackbuck population has gone up considerably in the region in the last several decades. Many animals keep moving from Kurnool to Anantapur district and neighbouring Karnataka.