Leopard found dead; suspected to be shot at

COIMBATORE: A five-year-old male leopard was found dead at Pandalur in the Nilgiris district on Tuesday morning. Forest department officials suspect that the animal could have been shot dead.  The animal was found dead inside the tea fields, owned by a popular tea estate company, in Athimanagar near Pandalur. Three teams have been formed to investigate the case, forest department sources said.

Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) Assistant Veterinary Surgeon Rajesh Kumar and Animal Husbandry Department's (Gudalur) Bharat Jothi conducted the postmortem on the animal.

During the autopsy, an improvised projectile was found lodged in one of its hind limbs, the veterinarians said, adding that the animal had bite marks on the head, chest and near the stomach indicating that the animal could have been attacked by another leopard for claiming dominance over a territory.

District Forest Officer (Gudalur forest division) Suresh Soman told TNIE that the animal was not poached since the skin and nails were intact.

"This is the first case in which a plastic cartridge was used to kill an animal," Soman said.