COIMBATORE: A group of residents of Vadamadurai near Thudialur here taking a morning walk on Wednesday were in for a rude shock and virtually panicked on sighting a leopard-like, huge size cat running across the road.
Though the animal quickly disappeared into the nearby bush, 30-year-old Medila leading the walkers screamed in panic, which prompted local residents come running for help.
They all searched the nearby bushes, but found nothing. Immediately they informed the forest department and four officials including Thudiyalur forester rushed to the spot to inspect the spot for leopard pugmarks.
After a 30-minute search, they found a pugmark, which nonetheless, did not resemble the pugmark of a leopard. M. Mariappan, a local resident told Deccan Chronicle that they suspected that the animal could have come from the Melmudi forest. His surmise was in the backdrop of a leopard that had entered Koundampalayam, a large residential area with several lakh people, a few years ago having then been relocated to Mangarai forest range close to the former forest area. However, the Coimbatore DFO, M.Senthil Kumar told DC that, “We did not get any pugmark in the concerned area. People might have spotted a forest cat; as it was early morning, due to insufficient light they would have got confused. Anyway we have ordered the forest watchers to undertake a thorough check in the nearby area.”
