Leopard strays into residential area near Sirumugai forest, kills goat

COIMBATORE: A leopard strayed into a residential area near Sirumugai Reserve forest in Coimbatore and attacked and killed a goat on Wednesday night.

The cattle owner D Udayakumar much to his shock witnessed the incident that happened at Lingapuram village around 8 pm. “He was standing with his wife outside the house when a leopard leaped into his cattle shed and grabbed away a goat kept untied,” said a forest department staff.

Acting on the owner’s information, a forest department team led by Sirumugai Forest Range officer K Manoj reached the spot and found the carcass of the goat left in the reserve forest area. However, there was no trace of the carnivore in the vicinity as it may have retreated into deep forests. D Udayakumar and other villagers claimed that even though their village is located adjacent to a forest area, this is the first time a leopard has entered their area in search of prey in recent years. The panic-stricken villagers urged the forest department to take precautionary measures and also trap the animal to be shifted elsewhere. In another instance of negative interaction, sixty-year-old Krishnasamy was severely injured in a wild boar attack in the same Lingapuram neighbourhood on Wednesday night.

A pack of stray dogs was chasing a wild boar, which in an attempt to escape, had attacked Krishnasamy who was sitting in front of his house, before fleeing away.

He suffered an injury on his head and was admitted to Mettupalayam Government Hospital for treatment.