Samples from leopard carcass sent to labs for finding cause of death

COIMBATORE: Samples of a leopard carcass, spotted at a tea estate by Gudalur Forest Department in The Nilgiris on Tuesday, are likely to be sent for testing to ascertain the reason for its death.

Officials said that all parts of the animal remained intact and they could not arrive at any immediate reason for its death.

“The samples lifted from the animal will be sent to Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation (AIWC) in Chennai and Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) to find out if the animal was poisoned. A post-mortem done on the carcass on Wednesday did not reveal the exact reason for its death,” said an official of the Forest Department. The five-year-old leopard is believed to have died a day ago at a tea estate in Barwood forest area in ‘O’ Valley forest range.

Similarly, a five-year-old male leopard cat (prionailurus bengalensis) succumbed to pneumonia in Valparai forest area on Tuesday. Estate workers spotted the animal lying dead at Cincona Estate and informed the Forest Department. A team led by Manambolly Forest Range officer A Manikandan arrived and sent the carcass of the animal to a veterinary hospital for examination.

A post-mortem revealed that the animal, listed under schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, died of pneumonia and its lungs remained completely infected. Its carcass has been buried with due caution to prevent spread of infection among other animals.