NILGIRIS: A leopard was found dead inside Parry Agro tea fields at Pandalur in Gudalur forest division on Friday. Forest department officials were unable to ascertain the exact cause of death as the animal carcass was putrefied.
Although the animal carcass was spotted on Friday evening, Pandalur forest range officials were unable to carry out postmortem examination on Friday evening as it had become dark. On Saturday morning, veterinary assistant surgeons K Rajesh Kumar of Theppakkadu and Naveen Kumar of Cherambadi conducted the autopsy in presence of members from an NGO.
The animal is believed to have died eight to ten days ago and the workers who returned to the particular field after a gap of fifteen days noticed the carcass only on Friday due to the stench.
“A fifteen-day interval is required for tea leaves to regrow. Staff have not visited the field after the carcass was found. We were unable to ascertain if it was a male or female leopard and the exact cause of death, as its skin and internal organs had been completely decayed. However, we have confirmed that the big cat was not targeted by poachers,” the official said.
Samples of the kidney and heart were taken from the carcass and sent for analysis to labs in Coimbatore. After postmortem, the leopard carcass was burnt as per NTCA guidelines.