Tamil Nadu: Drones and traps are used to capture the elusive leopard

On Thursday, the hunt for the elusive leopard in Mayiladuthurai began its second day, with more than a hundred employees from several departments keeping a 24-hour watch to find the large animal. In order to track the leopard’s movements, the forest authorities erected 10 camera traps on Thursday in addition to the six that were put in the day before. To catch it, they have also set up two unique traps from Madurai and drones from Dharmapuri using thermal imaging.

It was believed that the leopard, which was seen on Tuesday night close to Semmangulam, had hidden itself close to a private school in Koranad. It is now thought to have progressed covertly three kilometers in the direction of Arokianathapuram, according to sources. Authorities believe the leopard is hidden in the area’s thickets.

The existence of pug markings on the ground at Arockianathapuram served as our proof of the leopard’s presence. Since the leopard is more likely to appear at night, we will soon put up the traps, Abhishek Tomar, the wildlife warden of Nagapattinam, said TNIE.

Chief conservator of forests N Satheesh, who joined the warden and Sirkazhi forest range officer A Joseph Daniel in responding to a question about whether this is the first time a leopard has been observed in delta areas, said that a leopard had previously been spotted in Karaikal in the mid-1990s.

“Human habitats tend to be avoided by leopards.” On the other hand, we advise locals in and near Arokianathapuram to stay indoors throughout the night. We’ll follow the animal’s whereabouts and movements to apprehend it as quickly as possible,” he said.

According to authorities, the leopard is around eight years old. The hunt has been augmented by a five-person special team from the Anamalai Tiger Reserve near Coimbatore. There is already another five-person team from the Muthupet Range in the Tiruvarur district in town.

Seven schools close to Koranad would are closed on Thursday, according to Mayiladuthurai collector AP Mahabharathi’s declaration. Four additional schools received police protection so that their pupils may take the Class 10 test.