The Forest Department placed camera traps in a tea estate at Valparai on Friday after two migrant workers were injured in attacks by a leopard on two consecutive days.
The leopard attacks were reported in field No.35 of Woodbriar tea estate at Sirukundra, which falls under Valparai forest range of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), on Thursday and Friday.
According to the Department, Sitamuni Kumari (23) from Jharkhand was attacked by a leopard when she was working in the tea estate on Thursday noon. The woman, who suffered minor injuries, was admitted to the Government Hospital at Valparai. The Department handed over ₹2,000 to her as immediate relief.
In the second incident, Anil Oran (27), also from Jharkhand, was attacked by a leopard in the same tea estate on Friday. He was admitted to the Valparai GH where doctors found that his right leg had suffered a fracture. The Department gave him ₹4,000 as immediate relief.
The Department tasked separate teams to monitor the movement of the leopard, which is believed to have strayed from the nearby forest. Camera traps were fixed in the locality to monitor the movement of the leopard. Following the attacks in the same estate on two consecutive days, the Department advised the management to not send workers to collect tea leaves for a few days.
