Thiruvananthapuram: Forest department will widen the camera surveillance in areas where a leopard has been reportedly sighted in Kilimanoor and Pulimathu panchayats. Local residents have frequently alerted forest officials about having spotted a leopard in various areas under these panchayats.
Forest officials and veterinarians have not been able to gather any confirmatory evidence to say whether the prowling animal in these areas was actually a leopard.
A meeting of higher officials was convened on Monday wherein it was decided to install more cameras. “Initially we installed three cameras in these areas. The visuals collected from these cameras couldn’t give us a clear image of the animal. The surveillance network will be widened by installing 6-10 cameras in more areas,” said B Ajith Kumar, range officer, Palode.
A few days ago, two goats were found dead in a house at Thalikuzhy in Pulimathu panchayat. Postmortem revealed that the abdominal portion was ripped apart and visceral organs were consumed. There were also attempts to drag the goats from the open cage which was typical of a predatory attack.
While CCTV visuals from forest department cameras did not give any instance of a leopard attack, the residents reported that a leopard was found at a roadside shop that sold garden sculptures. The visuals collected from the shop show an animal on the move but again officials said that the paw marks found in this shop belonged to a canine and not to a feline, like leopard. The visuals showed that the animal prowled around the shop for nearly two hours and it killed a Turkey bird in the shop. The animal was also found having water from a fountain. Two youths have also reported leopard sightings. Forest officials installed a cage in one of the areas where the animal was sighted.