PATHANAMTHITTA: Marykutty Cherian was woken from sleep by the incessant barking of her pet dog, Blacky. It was 2 am on Saturday. “Suddenly, the barking stopped,” Marykutty recounted. Stepping outside the house, the 70-year-old saw an uncanny sight in the pool of her torchlight. Her Blacky was lying lifeless before another animal -- a leopard.
“We have been living in this hilly area for over the past 60 years. That night was the first time I saw a leopard,” Marykutty told TNIE. On sighting the animal, she woke her husband, “but by then, the leopard had quietly slipped into the darkness,” she added.
Marykutty and her husband, 72-year-old Cheriyan Mathew, are traditional farmers at Thulappally, a small village near Sabarimala forest in Ranni-Perunad. “Many families in the region have moved out. But how can we leave our farming land,” Marykutty said. Ranni MLA Pramod Narayan and forest officials visited the elderly couple after learning about the incident.
According to Pramod Narayan, Perunad Grama panchayat is overrun with abandoned farmlands. These, he said, have turned into mini forests after years of neglect. “Over 50% of families here are engaged in rubber cultivation. Normally tapping work begins at 3 am. After this news, all of us are unable to go to work,” Thulappally ward member Sibi Azhakathu said. While Thulappally villagers are kept on the edge by a leopard, it is a tiger that’s on the prowl in Madathummoozhy, Perunad.