A male leopard was found dead in a snare, with three of its limbs cut off by the poachers in a private tea estate in Mel Thattapaalam in Kotagiri forest range in the Nilgiris forest division on Saturday.
In a statement to the media, the Forest Department said that they had received information that a leopard was found dead in the area. During the course of the investigation, they discovered that the animal got caught in a snare, and that the persons responsible for ensnaring the animal had cut off three of its limbs.
Officials said that leopard paws were highly sought after in the national and international black market. However, they found that the animal’s teeth, which are also usually extracted by poachers in such instances, were still intact.
