Forest officials place cage to trap leopard frequenting village near Coimbatore

COIMBATORE: Forest officials in Coimbatore district have placed a cage to trap a leopard which has been frequenting Mothepalayam village in Sirumugai range.
Officials said villagers had told them almost a month ago that they had spotted a leopard in the area.
“We visited the area and found pugmarks. However, to confirm the presence of the leopard, we placed a camera trap. As the leopard’s presence was confirmed by the camera trap , we placed a cage a few days ago to trap the leopard,” said Sirumugai forest range officer E N Manoharan.
The official said as the village was close to the reserve forest, leopards usually stray out of the forest into the village.
“The village is hardly a kilometre from the edge of the reserve forest. So leopards come out of the forest and go through the banana plantations to a river and a hillock nearby,” said Manoharan.
There have been reports from villagers that the leopard had carried away dogs. “But we were not able to verify it. We have not come across any carcass of dogs or goats,” said the official.
“However, after we ensured the presence of the leopard using the camera trap, we brought the cage from Bhavani Sagar Dam and placed it in the area,” said Manoharan.
Forest personnel were also conducting night rounds in the area to monitor the movement of leopards and elephants, said the official.
Mothepalayam village and surrounding areas in Sirumugai range have seen quite a few leopards in the past months.
In July last year, a leopard frequented the villages in the region. It attacked and preyed upon dogs and goats. The animal was captured and was let into the reserve forest area near Bhavanisagar Dam in August.
In March this year, there was another leopard scare in the village.