Two spotted deer were found shot dead in a reserve forest area of Mettupalayam forest range of Coimbatore Forest Division on Saturday.
Though the Forest Department staff conducted a vehicle checking in the locality after getting alert about gunshots, a person suspected to have gunned down the deer managed to get away when the staff were checking another vehicle.
The incident took place in a place called Kuttaipudur which comes under Nellimalai forest beat of Mettupalayam forest range. According to the forest officials, several species of wild animals, including spotted deer, come to a water body at the place which belongs to the Public Works Department.
The staff in charge of the beat got information of a gunshot heard from the place around 3.30 a.m. A team of foresters, guards and anti-poaching watchers rushed to the place. They conducted vehicle checking on the Kurunthamalai temple - Thekkampatti road.
“A two-wheeler with a bright headlight approached the spot when the staff was checking another vehicle. The man, who rode the scooter slowed down as if he was about to stop but suddenly sped away. He managed to get away through local routes which he could be very familiar with,” said Mettupalayam forest range officer C. Palaniraja.
The staff conducted a search on the side of the road from where the scooter came and found a big sack with blood stains. They opened the sack and found two male deer dead inside. “The dead deer were aged around five and three. Both deer had lost their velvet antlers possibly after struggling for life following the gunshot,” said Mr. Palaniraja.
The soft velvet-like antlers grow after the annual shedding of fully grown antlers in male deer. The staff suspect that the suspected poacher carried the sack containing the deer in the scooter and abandoned it foreseeing the vehicle check ahead on the stretch.
District Forest Officer D. Venkatesh has formed two special teams led by Mr. Palaniraja and Karamadai forest range officer E.N. Manoharan.
