Chennai, May 12 (BPNS)

The carcass of a leopard was found at Valparai in Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), Tamil Nadu on Thursday morning. Usman, a tea shop owner at Valparai found the dead body of the leopard in the morning when he went to check his henhouse.

Usman told forest officials that the body of the leopard was found with its forearm struck in the mesh of the Henhouse. Forest officials told IANS that the leopard would have died of shock after its forearm got stuck in the mesh of the henhouse.

Deputy Director of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), D. Ganesh while speaking to BPNS said that there were no external injuries in the body of the leopard. He said,” There are no external injuries on the body of the leopard. Its  teeth and claw are intact.”

He said that the actual cause of the death of the wild animal could be ascertained only after the postmortem of the body of the leopard which will be conducted according to the protocol of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

The carcass of a wild tusker was found at the Coimbatore forest division on Wednesday while a special forest team was on patrol.