Forest dept places cages to trap prowling leopard in Coimbatore

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore forest department has placed two cages to trap a leopard preying on cattle on farms.

Officials of the forest department said that a leopard frequented farms near Thondamuthur and preyed on goats tied in the sheds. Over the last few days alone, the leopard ventured out of the forest and killed around eight goats.

Scared over its frequent intrusion, the villagers demanded the forest department to capture the leopard. Based on information given by villagers, a team of officials from the forest department visited the spot and confirmed the animal to be a leopard by examining its pug marks.

Therefore, two cages; one at Attukal Kembanur Pallam area and another at a farm in Onapalayam on Siruvani Road have been kept. Also, the forest department enhanced monitoring by placing meat in those cages to lure the carnivore.

Officials have requested villagers to be cautious and not to venture out unnecessarily during the dark.

In another wildlife-related incident, a decomposed carcass of tigress aged around five years was found in Nilakottai Forest Range in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) on Monday.

A team of frontline staff, who were on a routine patrol, spotted the carcass of the tigress at the Kothamadavu area in the Pennai forest area.

On receiving information, a team led by C Vidhya, Deputy Director of MTR (Core Area) visited the spot and an autopsy was performed by wildlife veterinarian K Rajesh Kumar.

“The animal had starved to death without any intake over the last few days. Samples have been sent for laboratory analysis to ascertain the reason for its death,” said an official.