COIMBATORE: Panic has gripped residents of Onapalayam after CCTV footage of a leopard killing four goats and lifting a carcass at a farmhouse, went viral on social media platforms. This comes right after four goats were killed in a leopard attack in another incident at Kembanur near Thondamuthur on Friday.
The leopard ventured into the farmhouse owned by Chinnasamy and killed four goats tied in front of the house at 1.20am. After killing, the animal had lifted a carcass.
Following the information, Coimbatore Forest Range staff, led by range officer V Thirumurugan, visited the spot and confirmed the animal’s presence using pugmarks. Cages were set up at Kembanur and Onapalayam to capture the leopard, forest department officials said.
“We will fix camera traps and monitor the animal movement. We have been advising people to avoid walking in the dark to prevent leopard-human conflict,” said the official.
“The distance between Kembanur and Onapalayam is 5km. Even though we have confirmed that a leopard killed the goats at Onapalyam, we have no clear-cut information regarding the Kembanur case. We are unsure if the same leopard was involved in both incidents. We will analyse the leopard after verifying the camera traps, as we have placed three camera traps at Kembanur and two camera traps at Onapalayam,” the official added.