Intruder leopard injures 6 in Coonoor
The leopard continued to stay inside the house as it was scared of cracker noise
The leopard caught on camera set up in the Coonoor house on Monday
COIMBATORE: A leopard that made its way into a house in Coonoor while chasing a dog exited on its own after a day’s stay early on Monday morning.
Four fire and rescue personnel, Murali (56), Kutty Krishnan (59), Kannan, (54), Vijayakumar (32) and revenue staff Suresh Kumar (32) as well as a television journalist suffered injuries in the leopard attack as they entered the house in search of the animal.
They all were rushed to Coonoor Government Hospital and then to Ooty Government Hospital.
Of them, Kutty Krishnan has alone been shifted to Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) for further treatment.
On Sunday around 4 am, the leopard entered a house while chasing a dog. “As dogs barked continuously, the house owner Vimala had gone out to check, when the leopard ran into her house. Soon, everyone rushed out and locked the doors,” said a forest department staff.
On receiving information, a team from the Rapid Response Team (RRT) from the Forest Department, a veterinarian and fire safety and rescue personnel turned up to monitor the animal.
The leopard continued to stay inside the house as it was scared of cracker noise. Even though various attempts were made under the supervision of Conservator of Forests (Nilgiris), D Venkatesh to drive the animal out, it refused to leave the house.
Therefore, forest department staff entered the house once again wearing protective gear and fixed four camera traps to monitor its movement and waited for its exit on its own.
As expected, the animal made its way out of the building into the reserve forest early on Monday morning and its exit was captured in the camera.
