Forest Department continues to track leopard in Erode district

With a leopard sighted recently at the Marayeepalayam hillock in Sathyamangalam taluk, the Forest Department is carrying out round-the-clock efforts to trace the animal that strayed out of the forest.

Villagers first spotted the leopard and alerted the Vilamundi Forest Range Office in the Sathyamangalam Division of the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve. A Forest Department team visited the area and confirmed the sighting. Three cages and five camera traps were installed, and drone surveillance was intensified. A team of 15 staff members and 10 villagers combed the hillock, but the animal could not be located.

Villagers claim that the leopard had moved out of the Vilamundi forest range and have urged the officials to capture and relocate it deeper into the forest. However, officials said the animal might have temporarily shifted to the hillock due to some disturbance in its habitat and likely returned on its own. “The animal has not been spotted in the last three days,” an official said. The Forest Department continues to monitor the hillock and surrounding areas.