DHARMAPURI: For the third time in the past two months, a wild leopard wandered into a private farmland near Valaithottam village near Palacode and hunted chicken raised by a local farmer. Local residents are increasingly distressed by the leopard's movement and have urged the forest department to take steps to relocate the leopard.
Over the past few months, there have been several reports of wild leopard sightings in forest areas near Palacode, particularly in Valaithottam village, located near the forest’s fringe. Previously, there have been two instances when the leopard attacked farmlands, taking away a domestic dog and a chicken. On Saturday, the leopard hunted another chicken from the farmland, causing panic.
Meanwhile, after the recent incident in Valparai where a child was killed by a leopard, panic has gripped the village again. Speaking to TNIE, S Vinayagam from Valaithottam said, "This is the third time that the leopard has hunted in our fields.
The forest staff are not helpful and we are in fear. Since we do not have restrooms at home, we are even afraid to go out to attend nature’s call. Since the leopard moved here, people are afraid to go out at night. Recently, after the Valparai incident, the situation has worsened, and the forest staff have done nothing to put people’s minds at ease."
R Perumal, a farmer, said, "Our daily life has been disrupted. While we start work early in the morning and go on till dusk, we have stopped the practice now. We made two requests with the forest department to capture and relocate the leopard."
District Forest Officer K Rajangam told TNIE, "As leopard is categorised under schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, we have sent a request to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF). We had already made this request and set up camera traps to monitor the leopard's movement, but failed to capture it. Now, we have formed a Rapid Response Team composed of 50 members and are monitoring the forest to find the leopards' movements. Following orders from PCCF, we will take further steps".