Leopard attacks goat, four cameras installed

Coimbatore: Forest officials have installed four camera traps and sought permission from the chief wildlife warden to set up a cage to capture a leopard that attacked a goat at Thiruvalluvar Nagar in Somayanur on the outskirts of the city on Monday evening.
The goat belongs to R Suresh, 46, of the area. “A herd of 35 goats belonging to Suresh were grazing near a forest on Monday evening. Suddenly, a leopard attacked a tribe of four goats that were closer to the forest. On seeing this, Suresh raised an alarm and ran towards the leopard, which ran away from the spot. One of the goats suffered injuries on its neck,” a forest official said.
Suresh said he had lost two goats in leopard attacks in the past three months. “We informed the forest department about the attacks and frequent sightings of leopards in the area, but they didn’t take any action. They failed to take the issue seriously. When children from the area were to be attacked, then they may realise the seriousness of the problem.”
Coimbatore forest range officer R Arunkumar said that the forest department had advised the people living near the forest fringes to not rear goats. “Goats and dogs are easy prey for leopards. People residing within 500m of the forest boundary should not rear goats. We sensitized them many times, but they continue to do so saying that it is their livelihood,” said Arunkumar.