Erode, Valparai residents worry over frequent leopard intrusion

For villagers of Pudupeerkadavu, a locality abutting forest boundary at Bhavani Sagar in Erode district, leopard visits have become more of a common occurrence. Barely two months after a leopard was trapped from the locality and relocated to Thengumarada forests, another leopard had strayed into their village on Thursday night to prey on a goat.

The villagers’ relief was short-lived when a leopard made its first visit to Pudupeerkadavu village two weeks ago to kill a goat tied in a farm. And the leopard struck again on Thursday night mauling to death a goat left in the shed of Murthy in front of his house. The Forest Department staff examined andconfirmed it to be a leopard with its foot prints.

Similarly, after a leopard attacked a goat at Paguthampalayam, a village on Bannari-Bhavani Sagar Road, the Forest Department placed a cage to trap the animal. Also CCTV cameras were fixed at two spots in the village to monitor the movement of the animal.

In Valparai too, the estatelabourers were not spared of the leopard scare. Forest Department sources said Muhammed, a farmer from Bharathidasan Nagar, near Valparai, had left his cattle for grazing in the farms along the forest boundary.

When the farmer went to bring back the cattle in the evening, he found one of them lying dead with injuries. On receiving information, the Manampalli Forest Department staff rushed to the spot and confirmed the carnivore which attacked the cow to be a leopard. The carcass of the cow was then buried in the same spot.

Following demands, the Forest Department has increased monitoring along the forest boundaries.