COIMBATORE: The Madukkarai forest range officials have placed a cage to trap a leopard that allegedly killed a pet dog in Pathimalaivadapuram near Kumittipathi on Friday morning.
The pet dog was owned by V Sakthivel, who also owns a 2.5-acre coconut grove, 5 km off Modamathi forest. The dog which was tied in a shed at 4 am was attacked and killed by a leopard. Sakthivel woke up at 6 am and was shocked after noticing bloodstains and the decapitated head of the dog inside the coconut grove.
He subsequently informed about the incident to Madukkarai forest range officials. “Sakthivel did not realise the dog getting attacked as he was fast asleep. On Tuesday night, a goat owned by V Palanisamy was also killed by a leopard in the nearbygrove. As a result, we have fixed a cage to trap the animal. In the earlier incident, the leopard had also consumed the goat,” said a field-level staff member in the range.
He added that a five-member team will be on duty to raise awareness about mitigating human-leopard conflict. “We have also instructed the grove owners to tie their cattle inside sheds to protect against attacks. We have been monitoring the animal movement by fixing three camera traps,” the staff further said.