A team of Forest Department officials on Monday arrested a youth in connection with the death of a leopard on Sunday at Nellimalam in the South Wayanad forest division.
The arrested was identified as Suneesh, 32, of Thenkunnel house, Thrikkaipetta. Suneesh is a toddy shop worker.
The carcass of the ensnared female leopard was found in a private rubber plantation at Nellimalam near the Manikkunnumala forest under the Meppadi forest range on Sunday evening. The two-year-old leopard was killed after it got trapped in a metal wire snare laid to trap wild boar, K. Baburaj, forest range officer, Meppadi said.
Cases on the rise
It was reported that poaching of wild boars and hares using metal wire trap had increased considerably in the district. However, South Wayanad divisional forest officer P. Ranjith said the department would adopt stringent steps to curb such attempts.
The accused was charged under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and Kerala Forest Act, 1961, he said.
They will be produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court here at night.