Leopard spotted in Coimbatore’s residential area; forest department on alert

Panic gripped the residents of Kuniyamuthur, a locality in south Coimbatore, after the residents claimed that they had sighted a leopard on Monday. Following this, the forest department officials stepped up their surveillance in and around the residential area.

A special team has been deployed to track and monitor the movement of the canine. District Forest Officer T.K. Ashok Kumar was quoted by The Hindu as saying that a special team had been deployed at Senthamil Nagar to monitor the movement of the carnivore.

One of the residents purportedly shot a video in which a leopard is seen resting on a hillock in the area. As per the reports, the forest department installed cameras in the locality to track the movement of the big cat on Tuesday evening.

The department urged people living in Senthamil Nagar and the nearby residential areas to remain alert and not to go out at night and in the early morning. Locals have also been asked to be cautious about their livestock and domestic animals such as dogs.

Since the residential areas of Kuniyamuthur are close to the Madukkarai forest range, it enjoys a good leopard population. The forest department had captured and translocated leopards that had strayed into human habitations at Madukkarai.