Vigil stepped up as leopard attacks goats, dog near Coimbatore

The Forest Department stepped up vigil around Madukkarai near Coimbatore after a leopard attacked four goats and one pet dog in the early hours of Thursday.

Officials said on Friday that one cage and two camera traps were placed in Ettimadai beat within Madukkarai forest range of the Coimbatore Forest Division. Estimated to be around eight years old, the leopard has remained elusive for nearly six months -- the cage was first placed in July 2020, but did not result in the leopard’s capture.

At around 2.10 a.m. on Thursday, R. Srinivasan, a resident of Gandhi Nagar in Madukkarai, found the leopard attacking his pet dog and it escaped by jumping over the compound wall upon his arrival. Two hours later, at around 4.35 a.m., the leopard entered a goat shed attached to the residence of P. Gnanaprakash in Madukkarai and attacked four goats before escaping. While three goats died, one survived the attack, according to the officials.

The leopard has been sporadically visiting the residential areas close to a reserve forest in the Ettimadai beat for the past six months, the officials said. It usually does not visit the same location twice, making it difficult to capture.

A team of 15 officials including foresters and anti-poaching watchers led by Madukkarai forest range officer B. Srinivasan are monitoring the area.