Even as residents of Hampi are under the grip of fear of spotting leopards frequently, the presence of the wild cats has been attracting wildlife enthusiasts and photographers.
Leopards have been spotted on the rocky hills at the world heritage site for the past several days, particularly near Sisters Stone, adjacent to Queens Bath. On Thursday evening and also on Friday morning, two leopards, a male and female, were spotted.
Though the wild cats have been spotted since 2014, either moving around on the rocky hills or resting on the boulders, there has been no case of man-animal conflict reported in Hampi.
Following concerns expressed by locals, the Department of Forests has placed a cage, with live bait, to capture the leopards. On Friday morning, Forest Department officials saw pug marks of the wild cats around the cage. It is suspected that the leopard that walked round the cage was the one that was captured earlier and later released, and it did not enter the cage.
In addition, crackers are being used by the department officials to scare away the wild cats.
Despite these measures, two leopards were spotted on Friday morning.
When contacted, Takhat Singh Ranawat, Deputy Conservator of Forest, told The Hindu that it was observed that the leopards were coming out during December, January and February, in search of isolated places to mate. The animals were also in search of drinking water.
“So far, there has been no case of conflict between man and the wild cat. Yet we have placed a cage to capture them. Apart from that we are trying to scare them by bursting crackers to ensure that they returned to the nearby sanctuary and also filling waterholes using tankers to ensure that there was enough water for them to drink,” he said.
S.K. Arun, honorary district wildlife warden, was of the view that the attacks by the wildcat on human beings were rare and usually happen when man encroaches upon their territory. “We should understand that the animals enjoy the right to live as much as we do,” he added.
Meanwhile, a large number of wildlife photographers from across the State are congregating at Hampi to catch a glimpse of the leopards.
