The Forest Department is to fix camera traps at Kalaiyanur village, near Coimbatore, to monitor a leopard that is on the prowl in the area and had preyed on livestock.
Farmers said at least six goats and a few pet dogs were killed by the carnivore in the past several days.
The leopard killed two goats belonging to Mahesh Prasath, a resident of Nanjundapuram, at his farm at Kalaiyanur in the early hours of Wednesday.
“One goat was killed by the leopard around 1 a.m. The animal returned to the shed around 4 a.m. and killed another goat,” stated Mr. Prasath whose pet dog at the farm was also preyed on by the leopard.
He said the leopard lifted a goat from an adjacent farm two days ago. The carnivore killed three goats of another farmer from Kalaiyanur last week, he added.
The leopard also mauled a cow in the village some days ago, leaving it severely injured. Mr. Prasath and other farmers wanted the Forest Department to place cages and trap the leopard at the earliest. Kalaiyanur falls within the limits of Coimbatore forest range of Coimbatore Forest Division.
District Forest Officer T.K. Ashok Kumar said camera traps would be fixed in the village to monitor the animal’s movement as the first immediate measure.
