COIMBATORE: A six-month-old black female leopard cub was found dead at Maruthamalai foothills on Thursday morning. Efforts were under way by the Coimbatore forest division to reunite the cub with its mother. The officials said that the exact cause of the death will be known after completing the postmortem.
The cub, which was found roaming near a house at the leprosy colony in the Maruthamalai foothills on Wednesday morning, was rescued by the Coimbatore forest range staff. They subsequently shifted it to a cage and simultaneously started searching for the mother leopard through pug marks.
In the evening, the black leopard cub was again shifted to a cave that was set up naturally using stones on four corners as per the instructions of Chief Wildlife Warden Rakesh Kumar Dogra. It was made to facilitate the mother leopard approaching the cave and lifting the cub. The staff expected that the mother would come during the wee hours on Thursday and lift the cub. However, the prediction went wrong.
According to Coimbatore Forest Range officer V Thirumurugan, “The cub came out of the cave at 4.30 am, soon after two leopards including the mother leopard, approached the cub twice since 1.30 am on Thursday. However, we have found the leopard cub dead at 300 meters from the cave."
"We will know the exact cause of the death; whether the animal has a disease or injury will be known only after the postmortem examination, which is currently in progress in the presence of members of NGO," he said.
According to DFO N. Jayaraj, "The mother leopard interacted with the cub throughout the night. However, the cub was not able to survive due to various reasons that will be found during the postmortem."