ERODE: A five-year-old male leopard, which had been threatening the villagers residing on the border of Erode and Salem for the past month, was trapped and relocated.
Villagers lodged complaints with the forest department about the movement of a leopard in Kittampatti, Komarayanur, and Masa Goundanur, areas falling under the Chennampatti range in Erode, as well as in border villages at the Mettur range in Salem.
Following the failure of officials to take appropriate action, ten days ago, residents of Komarayanur staged a road blockade, alleging that no effective action had been taken to capture the leopard.
Following this, six cages were installed in forest-fringe areas and the leopard was monitored daily using camera traps.
"On Tuesday night, the leopard was trapped in a cage placed at Chinnamalai, near Kittampatti. Upon information, forest officials from Chennampatti and Mettur rushed to the spot and prevented the public from approaching the cage," officials said.
"On Wednesday morning, a large number of residents gathered at the spot after learning that the leopard had been trapped. Forest officials loaded the cage containing the leopard onto a truck and took it to the North Bargur RF (Erode Division)," officials added.
The leopard will be released into a dense forest area, officials added.
Two days ago, a 36-year-old tribal youth lost his life allegedly in a leopard attack in Hasanur. Thereby, the forest department is maintaining strict surveillance by installing cameras at ten locations across Hasanur and its surrounding villages.