COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore forest department placed cages in the Sulur area on Thursday to trap a leopard involved in frequent attacks on cattle in farmlands.
Monitoring has been stepped up after one Manikandan spotted a leopard dragging away his calf tied in a farm in the Sulur area on Wednesday.
As he screamed in panic, many others rushed to the spot, but the carnivore had already fled away with its prey.
On receiving the information, a team of forest department staff visited the farm and confirmed the animal to be a leopard by examining its footprints.
Farm owner Narayanasamy expressed concern, claiming that the leopard had taken away two calves a couple of days earlier, and several dogs had also gone missing from his coconut farm.
“We suspected leopard movement over the last few months. Despite raising a complaint, the forest department has disapproved of any leopard presence in the locality,” he said.
Following this incident, the forest department placed two cages with a goat and a dog as bait to trap the leopard. A team of frontline staff has also been deployed to monitor the carnivore to prevent any further untoward incidents.
Meanwhile, in Pollachi, farmers attached to the Tamil Nadu Farmers Association gathered in protest in front of the forest department office, protesting for failing to control the growing menace of wild elephants and wild boar in their region. They also brought crops and drip irrigation pipes damaged by the animals.