Prowling leopard captured alive

"The two-year-old leopard finally got trapped in the cage kept near Sainik School around 3 am on Wednesday. It suffered an injury in the edge of its tail, when the cage shutter came down as the animal entered the cage.

Hence the leopard is treated for injury. It will then be translocated to forests after keeping it under observation for two more days," said Tirupur district forest officer Thangaraj.

The leopard was tranquilized and taken away from near Sainik School to keep it away from public glare. However, the DFO said that they have decided to keep a vigil in villages near Amaravathy forest range as they suspect another leopard is on prowl.

Two different leopards have been trapped in cameras installed by the forest department. One has been caught and another, which is bigger in size, remains elusive. "We have asked the public to be cautious and not to venture out during nights. Efforts will be made to trap that too," said Mr Thangaraj.

As the news of leopard capture spread out, large number of local people came to see the animal.

Over the last one-month, villagers have been frequently spotting the leopards, which had strayed out of the forest areas and preyed on several dogs and cow bred by locals in Perumpallam area. The leopard had also killed a dog reared by a forest department staff at forest quarters in Amaravathi.

The leopards were often sighted at 9/6-check post, Manakkadu, Ellayamuthur, Selvapuram, Kallapuram, Poochimedu, Karattupallam and Meenpannai under Amaravathi forest range in Udumalpet. The forest department had then installed eight cameras to keep track of the leopard.

The leopard which was caught on Wednesday was sighted twice in Perumpallam and near Sainik School over the last one month. The forest department personnel had put up three cages with meat as bait to trap the leopard. Finally, it was captured on Wednesday.