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Papri Sri Raman in Madras
A panther that killed a boy and attacked people and domestic animals at a tea estate in Coimbatore district has been caught and, in a unique move, relocated to another forest.
The animal, captured after a 55-day effort from the Valparai region, was relocated in the Udumalpet forest range in east Coimbatore this week.
According to Coimbatore circle forest officers, the two-year-old male panther had been attacking residential areas in the estate and stealing domestic animals over the past three months.
They also confirmed that a seven-year-old boy, who was killed by an animal in the tea estate, had in fact been killed by the same panther as the pug marks found near the boy's body matched those of the captured beast.
The big cat was trapped in a specially designed cage using a goat and a dog as bait. The panther managed to kill the goat and eat it without entering the trap, but the dog resisted, forcing it to enter the trap, the forest officers said.
The captured animal was put to sleep with ketamine injections before being transferred to another forest in a lorry.
Indo-Asian News Service
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