Nilgiris, Oct 11 (IANS) A leopard filmed walking through a residential neighbourhood in Orasolai village near Kotagiri in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district has triggered alarm among residents, who have appealed to the Forest Department to intervene and drive the animal back into the forest.
The surveillance footage shows the leopard moving along a road in front of a house and continuing through the settlement.
Its circulation on social media has heightened anxiety in the village, where residents say leopards and bears frequently venture into inhabited areas. Residents have sought action to prevent a dangerous encounter, pointing to the animal’s movement close to homes.
The account of the latest sighting does not mention any injuries or an attack on people. The concern comes against the backdrop of fatal leopard attacks in Tamil Nadu’s plantation belts, particularly in the Nilgiris and Valparai, where several victims have been children from families of estate workers.
In the Nilgiris, three-year-old Nancy was killed on January 6, 2024, at a tea estate in the Bitherkad forest range near Pandalur. She was returning home with her mother when the leopard attacked. The incident followed the death of Saritha, who suffered injuries in an attack at Elamanna on December 21, 2023, and died on December 29. Forest personnel subsequently captured a leopard linked to the Pandalur attacks and transferred it to the rescue centre at Arignar Anna Zoological Park near Chennai.
Valparai in Coimbatore district has also witnessed fatal attacks. A girl identified as Apsara was killed at a tea estate in October 2024. In June 2025, four-year-old Roshini Kumari was taken by a leopard near her home at Pachamalai estate; her body was recovered the following morning after an extensive search. Another child, five-year-old Saiful Alam, was killed at Iyerpadi tea estate near Valparai in December 2025 while playing outside workers’ quarters.
Elsewhere in Tamil Nadu, leopard attacks have affected livestock. In July 2025, a leopard killed two calves and injured another near Hasanur in Erode district, close to the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve.
These incidents provide a troubling backdrop to the Orasolai sighting, although there is no evidence connecting the leopard in the video to any previous attack.
The villagers’ appeal is for the Forest Department to address the animal’s presence near their homes and prevent an encounter that could endanger residents or the leopard.
–IANS
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