Leopard preys on chickens, Wayanad man moves High Court

Sulthan Bathery: A Wayanad resident has approached the Kerala High Court seeking protection from a leopard feasting on his chickens.

According to the complainant, Paul Mathews, who approached the High Court seeking protection for his life and wealth, the forest department failed to take any action even after he repeatedly raised concerns.  

The animal broke into the coop and lifted off as many as seven hens on May 13. Earlier on May 8, the leopard preyed on four hens. The CCTV cameras of his house captured images that clearly showed that the animal was a leopard. Paul Mathews lamented that, though he had informed the forest officials several times, he kept losing his livestock. According to Paul Mathews, the department would set up cage-traps only if the images of the animal were captured by the surveillance cameras owned by the department. 

"After much hue and cry, the forest department personnel had fitted cameras around the location. On the very next day, though my cameras had shown a prolonged presence of the animal, the forest department officials said that there were no images in the department's cameras," said Mathews. 

Mathews buttressed the coop with an additional iron net as a last resort. The animal failed to catch even a single hen but visited the spot twice and attempted to catch the hens many times.  

"I was forced to approach the court as the forest department staff refused to lay traps to catch the problem animal," he said. The case has been scheduled for hearing this week.

The local people are worried because the animal is roaming in a thickly populated area where children often play and also during evenings. A few weeks ago, an animal attacked a newspaper agent in the same locality, who narrowly escaped. The local people had formed vigil groups to monitor the animal's movement.