As the sun sets, people residing in Mookkenpetty on the eastern-most tip of Kottayam are locking up themselves in their homes and their cattle in safe shelters.
Since the past few days days, this high-range settlement has been gripped by the fear of a straying leopard.
While some of the villagers here are claimed to have spotted the animal directly along the forest fringes, the Forest department is yet to confirm the animal’s presence. The department, however, was forced to enhance surveillance on these villages after an unidentified wild animal began preying on the livestock here.
The leopard, according to the villagers, attacked and killed one of the goats reared by E.J. Muthusami, a livestock farmer at Arivickal in Mookkenpetty. According to the farmer, pug marks of the animal were clearly visible in the area and the injuries on the goat, which had been killed, pointed to an attack by a leopard.
“Following the attack, we, along with the local forest watchers, mounted a guard over the area on Thursday evening. The animal once again reached the spot in search of cattle around 11.45 p.m. but fled the spot as soon as we lit torches,” said Mr. Muthusami.
Taking a serious note of the incident, the villagers approached the Forest department through the Erumely panchayat even as more villagers began to report citing of the leopard. The Forest department, in turn, has strengthened surveillance in the region by installing camera traps to monitor and identify the animal.
“What these villagers cited could well have been a wild cat, which are found in huge numbers along the forest fringes here. A camera trap has been placed and if the animal is identified to be a leopard, a cage will be placed,” said P.B. Jayan, Forest Officer of Erumely Range.
As reports on the predator’s contact with humans increase, the mounting hysteria is spreading across more parts of the villages here, which border with the Sabarimala forests. Reports of a couple of leopards lurking along the forest fringes have poured in from the Angel Valley village in the region as well. A Forest department team, which visited the village, however, is yet to receive any evidence to confirm this report.
