Amid high-level multi-pronged investigation being conducted into the incident of poaching of 11 blackbuck, a State animal, at this village in Kurnool district, during the ground-level interaction with farmers and villagers in and around the site of the incident, the officials reportedly came to know about yet another attempt at poaching these wild animals two days after the first incident.
A group of farmers in the village reportedly said they saw two autorickshaws full of people descending on the area from Guntakal (claimed by visitors) looking for blackbuck with head-worn searchlights.
On Tuesday, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests K. Gopinath, who has been appointed the inquiry officer into the incident, visited the site of the gruesome butchering of the blackbuck and interacted with villagers, landowners, Adoni Deputy Superintendent of Police K.S. Vinod Kumar and other village revenue officers to pick up clues about the modus operandi.
Mr. Gopinath said it was surprising to know that all the 11 blackbuck slaughtered at the village were male. The Narayanapuram, Kammarachedu, and Chagi villagers own the lands where the incident took place and they aver that none eats the meat of these blackbuck. “These animals, however, spoil our crops and we need to keep a watch for initial one month or after sowing cotton, chili, groundnut or any crop,” said a farmer Malappa.
Currently, there are a few thousand of these blackuck, which roam around throughout the year. Even on Tuesday, while the police and forest officials were reaching the incident spot, a group of blackbuck crossed them.
What is intriguing for all is why did the poachers choose only male blackbuck, which are close to 45 kg to 50 kg each and they are fewer in numbers in a herd that has many female animals.
The Forest officials tried to find out what were the methods of trapping these animals and some villagers said while catching with a net was one, bright headlamps are worn in the night to make them immobile and then either kill them with a sharp object or trap them in a net, the villagers added.
Operation Blackbuck was done in 2005 to shift these animals from the Atmakur area to Nagargarjuna Sagar backwaters in Guntur district and many villagers and others suggest a similar operation again to reduce the number of these animals by relocating these Schedule-I wild animals.
