CHENNAI: A leopard preying on cattle raised by farmers for the past one and a half years was finally trapped in a cage by the forest department in Krishnagiri, on Thursday morning.

The carnivore is suspected to have killed more than 30 goats, cows, and dogs raised by farmers in Adavi Samipuram, Islampur, Thandarai, Pandeswaram, Samipuram, Kamayur, Adaikalapuram, Masinayakkanapalli and Onnupalli villages.

The villagers, who were panicked by frequent sightings of the leopard, demanded the forest department to trap the animal. After confirming frequent intrusions of the leopard through CCTV and pug marks, the forest department made efforts to trap the animal by placing the cage with a goat as bait in Adavi Samipuram village.

In the early morning hours, the leopard was spotted trapped in the cage. The relieved villagers turned up to have a glimpse of the leopard, aged around six years, which appeared aggressive.

The cage with the animal was then loaded into a specially designed vehicle and taken to Chennamalam village in Jawalagiri Range on the Karnataka border to be released.

Forest department officials said this is the third leopard to be captured in Krishnagiri district since the year 2008, when a leopard, which made its way into a bakery in the Netaji Road area, was caught by sedation.

Then, in 2014, a leopard that entered into a house in Kanalatti village in Shoolagiri was captured. After ten years, a leopard has now been caught.