Forest Department staff were trying to trace the vehicle that could have possibly been involved in the road hit.
A leopard which was found dead in a reserve forest area of Karamadai forest range of Coimbatore Forest Division on Friday evening could have had a fatal hit by a vehicle as per post-mortem findings.
The leopard’s left chest and abdomen had injuries which the animal could have suffered in a vehicle hit according to Forest Department sources.
The big cat’s thorax had profuse internal bleeding possibly caused by the vehicle hit. There was an eight cm deep wound in its neck, which the veterinary surgeon suspects that the leopard could have been suffered from a sharp object like the flag rod of a vehicle. Also, a portion of the leopard’s tail and four claws of its left foreleg were also severed in the possible road hit, said sources.
The possibility of a road hit was further deepened as the leopard was found dead barely 20 metres off the Mulli – Pilloor dam road at a place namely Monar around 6.30 p.m. on Friday. The Mulli – Pilloor dam road is connected to Mulli – Thavalam road to Palakkad district in Kerala and Mulli-Geddai-Manjur road to the Nilgiris.
According to Forest Department officials, the leopard’s teeth and claws of other legs were intact.
A. Sukumar, Forest Veterinary Officer of Coimbatore Forest Division, autopsied the leopard in the presence of District Forest Officer D. Venkatesh, an Assistant Conservator of Forests, Karamadai Forest Range Officer and members of non-governmental organisations following the protocols of the National Tiger Conservation Authority. Samples were collected for laboratory examination after which the carcass was cremated.
Forest Department staff were trying to trace the vehicle that could have possibly been involved in the road hit.
