COIMBATORE: A three-year-old girl child of a migrant couple lost her life in a leopard attack at a tea estate in the Bitherkad Forest Range on Saturday evening. The leopard reportedly dragged the child into the estate and mauled her.
It is believed to be the same leopard that had earlier attacked four people in three incidents, in which a woman was killed in Kolapally area in Pandalur, Nilgiris district. On Saturday, the child, named Nancy, was returning to her house along with her mother when she was targeted by the animal.
The girl who sustained severe scratch and bite injuries was rescued by locals and was rushed to the hospital at Pandalur where she was declared dead, said sources. Police officials said she was the daughter of migrant workers living and working as estate labourers in the area.
In the first incident that happened on December 21, three women were attacked by a leopard at Elamanna in the same region, and one of them, Saritha, died in Coimbatore on December 29. On Thursday (January 4) another child is said to have been attacked by the same leopard and escaped with minor injuries.
Within 16 days, five were attacked and two died in the leopard attack in the Pandalur region, said sources.
The Forest Department had already attempted to trap the animal using a cage, with bait placed inside, but was unsuccessful.
However, after the attack on the child on Thursday, the Chief Wildlife Warden granted permission to the Gudalur forest division to tranquilize and relocate the animal, and efforts to safely catch the animal were ongoing when it attacked Nancy.