After the death of at least four animals in 10 days on the campus of the University of Hyderabad (UoH), a group of students from the varsity nabbed 15 trespassers in a single day.
The students from 'Wild Lens', a group formed on the campus to protect wildlife in the university, say that some of the trespassers were cutting trees, and picking fruits, while others may have been hunting.
Earlier, the group had nabbed around 65 trespassers over a span of two years.
"The number has now increased to 80 with fresh trespassers caught by us on Sunday. The main reason for increasing number of trespassers is the short compound wall at many places around the campus. This makes it easy for trespassers and poachers to hop over easily," Ravi Jillapalli, founder of Wild Lens told the Times of India.
The students nabbed the poachers on the same day that the body of a peahen was found on campus, and handed over to the state's Forest Department for a post-mortem.
Last Tuesday, a spotted deer, whose head was cut off, was found lying near the old horticulture department.
The body of a wild boar was also found on campus a little earlier.
According to reports, the Telangana Forest Department did not book a case, even though the animal was a protected species under Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act.
Last week, a spotted deer's body was found trapped in a metal trap.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Chief Conservator of Forests, Ranga Reddy, S Kukrety said, “We are talking to UoH authorities on this as a number of incidents have occured on their campus.”