One person injured as leopard enters Tirupattur town

70-year-old man injured by leopard in Tirupattur town, forest officials working to tranquilize and safely release the animal.

A 70-year-old man was injured after a leopard attacked him while fleeing from a private school campus on the rear side of the Collectorate office in Tirupattur town on Friday evening.

Forest officials said that it was around 3.30 p.m that they were informed about the movement of the leopard in the campus. Accompanied by M. Mahendran, District Forest Officer (DFO), Tirupattur, Albert John, SP (Tirupattur), and S. Padma, Conservator of Forests In-Charge (Vellore Circle), Collector K. Tharpagaraj rushed to the spot. “The injured person is out of danger. Efforts are being taken to tranquilise the animal and safely let it in the wild,” Mr. Tharpagaraj told The Hindu.

A large team of forest officials, police and revenue officials were roped in for safe evacuation of students and staff from the school campus. Forest officials said that the school was undergoing renovation. Around 10 workers were employed to paint its buildings for a week. The injured S. Gopal (70), a local, was one of the workers engaged in the work and he was on his way to paint a portion of the building when the leopard attacked him as it tried to flee from the campus after school authorities raised an alarm. The injured Gopal is undergoing treatment at the Government Taluk Hospital in the town.

A large number of residents gathered in front of the school as soon as word spread on the leopard attack. They jostled to have a glimpse of the animal. By then, the leopard jumped into the car shed of the adjacent locked house.

Meanwhile, a 30-member Animal Rescue Team from Hosur, Vellore Circle, Forest Protection Squad, and forest department officers and personnel from Gudiyatham, Pernambut and Odukkathur subsequently launched an operation to tranquilize the leopard that had been trapped inside the car shed.

Forest officials said that the leopard would have strayed into the town from Kothur reserve forest (RF), around 20 kms from the town. Unlike Nagalathur RF, which is closer to town, forest officials have earlier spotted leopards in Kothur RF, which is part of Jawadhu Hills. Forest officials also said that in recent weeks, death of goats due to strange animals in the area was reported by dairy farmers to them.