THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ten days after a medium-sized leopard was spotted in front of the Ponmudi police station, another fully grown leopard was spotted by a cook working at the Ponmudi LP School at 8.30 am on Wednesday. The forest department has decided to lay a trap to capture the leopards prowling in the area.
It was on Christmas day that a leopard was spotted in front of the Ponmudi police station by a policeman on duty there. Hearing a commotion, the leopard retreated into the forest. On Wednesday morning, the cook at Ponmudi LP School, Vijayamma, was on her way to the school when a fully grown leopard came before her. The panic-stricken woman ran to the safety of a house nearby. Later, the leopard retreated into the forest. Jagubar Sadiq, Grade Sub-Inspector, Ponmudi police station, told TNIE that the leopard spotted on Wednesday was not the same animal that was spotted last month.
“There is a four-km distance between Ponmudi police station and Ponmudi LP School. If the first leopard was medium-sized, what was spotted by the cook is a fully grown adult leopard. Ponmudi Tourism Police and I have given a request to the forest department authorities to set up a trap to nab the leopards that had entered into human habitation”, said Jagubar.
The leopard ran behind the school after the cook raised an alarm. The forest department officials visited the area and scouted for the presence of leopards but they couldn’t locate them. Ponmudi is one of the most crowded tourist spots in Thiruvananthapuram. With the New Year season on, there has been a spurt in the number of tourists arriving in Ponmudi. The forest area in Ponmudi has got a sizable population of elephants, bison, bears, sambar deer and leopards. Recently, a few bears had attacked tribals and local people on separate occasions, injuring them.