HYDERABAD: Once home to hundreds of spotted deer and other protected wildlife species, the serene environs of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) are now turning into a hunting ground for poachers. In yet another incident, on Thursday morning, a carcass of an adult male spotted deer was found with suspected bullet wounds inside the state government’s Sports Authority of Telangana State (SATS) shooting range located inside the UOH on Thursday morning.The incident came to light after a few workers inside the campus found the carcass in the shooting range at the campus. “After receiving information about the deer carcass, the security personnel of the university went to SATS to enquire and procure the carcass to send it for post-mortem. But the duty officers at SATS locked up the security officials inside their main gate until the police came to their rescue,” said Ravi Jillapalli, a wildlife activist.“There are about two injuries on the carcass which clearly depict gunshot wounds. It is a clear case of poaching. SATS is an isolated area which belongs to the state government. There have been cases of poaching inside SATS in the past as well,” said Ravi.The anti-poaching squad of the Forest Department procured the carcass and are investigating the case. “There are also a few injuries on the body which look like it was attacked by stray dogs as well,” said Chiranjeeva Rao of Telangana State Forest Department.The post-mortem reports which were acquired by the Forest Department on Thursday evening revealed that there were bruises on the ventral side, right side of the body, on the abdomen and a major injury on the spinal cord. The reports show the leading cause of death as haemorrhagic shock. The spotted deer, although commonly found in protected areas across Telangana, is a Schedule-III animal under the Wildlife Protection Act.

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