DHARMAPURI: An eight-year-old male leopard was found dead within the Pennagaram reserve forest in the Dharmapuri district on Thursday morning. It is suspected it died of wounds sustained in an attack by a wild elephant.
A team of forest staff found the carcass during a routine inspection. Immediately, the team notified the District Forest Officer, K Rajangam, who in turn sought permission for a postmortem.
Rajangam said, "The postmortem revealed the leopard had unusual blood clots and a bone fracture on the left side of the neck. It is likely an injury caused by a fight between two animals. Moreover, the skin, canines, and claws are intact. If it were a poaching incident these would have been taken. Our initial analysis suggests a wild elephant could have attacked and killed the leopard. We have collected the biosamples of the leopard and sent them to the Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation in Vandalur and the Forensic Science laboratory."
The postmortem was overseen by NGOs, DFO K Rajangam, Veterinarian Dr Kumaresan and Assistant Surgeon Dr Jayachandran. Following the postmortem, the leopard's remains were disposed of as per the Standard Operating Procedure of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.