Locals are in a state of fear due to increasing leopard movement in the village for the past two months.
Coimbatore: Locals are in a state of fear after hearing about a leopard that hunted down and dragged a goat that was tied up in a garden in Mettupalayam's Nellithurai village which is surrounded on both sides by a forest and the Bhavani river waterbody.
Farmers here cultivate bananas, coconuts and sugarcane, and make a living as herdsmen of sheep and cows.
For the past two months, with leopard movement increasing in the Nellithurai Vilamarathur area, there were reports of one of the local's calf being killed and dragged away by a leopard in the area. On farms, dogs too have reportedly disappeared. On Saturday, Rukmini, a local had tied up her goat in the farmshed at 5 pm.
After a while, she found the goat missing but the rope with which the goal had been tied was lying in two pieces. Also, there was a footprint of the goat and that of the leopard that had dragged the goat. The Mettupalayam Forest Department was informed about this immediately.
The forest officials went to the spot on Saturday night to monitor the movement of the leopard. Nellithurai Vilamarathur locals say, "Recently, leopard movement has increased in the region. Dogs are disappearing. Some have also seen the leopard. It is scary to walk in the area at night. So, we are requesting officials to set up a cage and capture this leopard," they urged.
Farmers here cultivate bananas, coconuts and sugarcane, and make a living as herdsmen of sheep and cows.
For the past two months, with leopard movement increasing in the Nellithurai Vilamarathur area, there were reports of one of the local's calf being killed and dragged away by a leopard in the area. On farms, dogs too have reportedly disappeared. On Saturday, Rukmini, a local had tied up her goat in the farmshed at 5 pm.
After a while, she found the goat missing but the rope with which the goal had been tied was lying in two pieces. Also, there was a footprint of the goat and that of the leopard that had dragged the goat. The Mettupalayam Forest Department was informed about this immediately.
The forest officials went to the spot on Saturday night to monitor the movement of the leopard. Nellithurai Vilamarathur locals say, "Recently, leopard movement has increased in the region. Dogs are disappearing. Some have also seen the leopard. It is scary to walk in the area at night. So, we are requesting officials to set up a cage and capture this leopard," they urged.