India: Security guards of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) on Wednesday chased and caught 12 persons as they were trying to flee with the carcass of a brown hare. However, three accused managed to escape.

The black-napped hare or the Indian brown hare is very common on UoH campus and recently, poaching is posing a serious threat to their survival, varsity authorities and environmentalists said. The accused along with the carcass were handed over to forest department officials for further investigation.

“We have been witnessing regular cases of wildlife poaching in UoH. Though hare is not in the list of endangered species, lately, this species has become a target of poachers raising concern for their future,” said Ravi Jillapalli, a student and wildlife conservationist of UoH. Five carcasses of wild boars were also recovered from the campus.

Poaching has become rampant in UoH due to lack of a proper compound wall within the campus, conservationists said.

(Source: The Times of India)