Reports came in on Saturday of the sighting of a leopard in Perungalathur, on the fringes of the Vandalur reserved forests. Following this, a trap cage was set up to capture the big cat.
K. Soundarapandian, District Forest Officer, Kancheepuram, who supervised the operations to set up the cage, said they received information about the movement of a leopard from K. Ramesh, a forest watcher.
Mr. Ramesh said,“A group of spotted deer came out of the Forest department’s extension centre in Sadhanandhapuram around 8.30 p.m. on Friday. A leopard was chasing the deer. As I had a torch with me, I flashed it on the animal, which froze for a few seconds before disappearing into the bushes. Immediately, I passed on the news of the leopard sighting to senior officials.”
The department brought two trap cages and set up one near the waterhole inside the Vandalur Reserved Forests. Mr. Soundarapandian said the footprints found near the waterhole were that of spotted deer. The officials are also planning to set up camera traps in the area to record the movement of the leopard.
The movement of a leopard in Chengalpattu forest division was reported about a month ago. Following this, officials set up trap cages in eight different locations in the division. This is the second instance where leopard sighting was reported in the Vandalur area, this time in the western suburb of Perungalathur, Mr. Soundarapandian said. Way back in 2002, a leopard strayed into the Vandalur zoo premises, forcing authorities to close the zoo to visitors for nearly a month. The area where the leopard has been sighted now is located just behind of the lion safari zone in Vandalur zoo.
Mr. Soundarapandian said already, a team from the Tambaram Range office visited the site in the morning, where the leopard sighting was reported.
