A male panther was found dead in the Hassanur forest range in the Sathyamangalam division in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday morning. It is suspected that the animal was poisoned to death.
Forest personnel found the carcass of the grown-up animal at Sivan Irukan Pallam and informed senior officials. “We suspect that the four-year-old panther was poisoned to death. We have sent the samples to laboratory for further analysis,” wildlife veterinarian N.S. Manoharan said after examining the carcass.
Inquiry ordered
The Forest Department has launched an inquiry into the incident and detained two men on charges of poisoning the animal.
During the preliminary inquiry, it was found that the two poisoned the panther after it killed their cow a few days ago. The persons claimed that they resorted to poisoning in order to protect their cattle grazing inside the forests, official sources said.
“We will take action against them after getting the laboratory results,” District Forest Officer M. Sathish said. The forest personnel burnt the carcass after conducting the post-mortem.
