Residents stage road blockade demanding capture of stray leopard

Residents, including women and farmers, blocked the Polur-Chengam Main Road at Mel Vanniyur village near Arani town in Tiruvannamalai, demanding that the district administration take steps to trap the stray leopard that has been venturing into human habitations for the past few weeks.

Residents said that farming villages such as Kidampalayam, Kettavarampalayam, Mel Vanniyur, and Vathiyar Kottai are located on the fringes of forests that fall under the Kalasapakkam forest range in Tiruvannamalai forest division. “We are living in fear after repeated attacks by a leopard on cattle in these villages since the first week of January. We are scared to go outside our houses after sunset,” said S. Pankajam, a resident.

Forest officials said a two-year-old male leopard had been captured on the CCTV cameras fixed in Reserve Forests (RFs) at Molakad, Katana Giri, and Malayalam villages. These forest areas come under the Kalasapakkam and Santhanvasal forest ranges, covering around 15,000 hectares each. “The camera trap captured the image of the young leopard on December 31 when the animal attacked three calves in a village near a forest. Awareness is being created among residents to stay indoors after sunset,” said S. Murugan, forest range officer, Kalasapakkam. 

The leopard had killed at least seven head of cattle in farming villages along RFs at the foothills of Jawadhu Hills since December 31. After investigation, the Forest Department had given a compensation of ₹20,000 to each affected family, based on the orders of K. Sudhakar, District Forest Officer (DFO), Tiruvannmalai.

However, residents and forest officials said that the threat of the leopard to human lives remained, and farmers were reluctant toventure into farmlands near forests, fearing an attack. 

Forest officials said the leopard travels around 20 km under forest cover every day on an average. The migration of the animal is mainly on the Gingee (Kallakuruchi)-Chengam-Polur route. Most attacks have occurred in villages located around 10 km from the forests.

“Being young, the stray leopard is scared of human presence. The animal was last seen in these areas more than a year ago. We are tracking its movements,” Mr. Murugan added.

As per norms, forest officials have informed Collector K. Tharpagaraj and the Chief Wildlife Warden of the Forest Department that they need to trap the animal to prevent any untoward incidents.

Forest officials are also keeping track of the movement of the leopard. 

As traffic was affected on the route, the Kalapakkam police and forest officials assured the residents that efforts would be made to set up cages to trap the animal. Based on the assurance by forest officials, the residents dispersed peacefully.