COIMBATORE: Hours after the capture of a five-year-old female leopard that allegedly killed 8 goats and continued to enter the residential areas, the animal died without responding to the treatment at Maruthamalai foothill on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the District Forest Officer of Coimbatore Forest Division N Jayaraj, ”The animal had bite marks of another carnivore indicating that the deceased had an infight that resulted in septicemia. The right and upper and lower canines were also broken, and that could be the reason for the leopard searching for easy prey like goats by venturing into the agricultural areas.
“We have also noticed multiple fractures at the right elbow joint in the legs, and we will get more clarity about her death after completing the postmortem,” he said.
A team from the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) Coimbatore forest range, with the assistance of a veterinarian, successfully captured the leopard using a trap net and subsequently transferred it into a cage at Boopathy Raja Nagar in Onapalayam near Vadavalli on Monday night.
After checking the health condition, a veterinarian team started providing treatment to the animal by keeping it at the forest staff quarters at the Maruthamalai foothill. However, the animal died without responding to the treatment at 1pm on Tuesday.
The big cat killed four goats at Chinnasamy Gounder Grove on 1 March. In another incident, it killed four more goats belonging to Thangam near Kembanur. The same animal allegedly had ventured into the Bharathiar University campus, leading officials to evacuate students on 5 March as a precautionary measure.
Based on the public demand, cages were set up to capture the animal. However, the leopard entered the under-construction house at Boopathy Raja Nagar at 11:35 pm on Monday night, where it was eventually captured.