Pug marks scare residents near forest areas in Sholavaram; it’s just a jackal, say officials
Suspicions of wild cat movement in their area kept residents near Sholavaram, north of the city, on vigil for two days.
The
situation became tense after a resident found big pug marks in forest
areas in Allimedu village near Sholavaram on Friday. While locals
suspected it was a leopard, the pug marks indicated the presence of a
jackal.
Senior forest officials, on Saturday, confirmed this, after The Hindu
showed the pictures of the pug marks. They said the pub marks do not
match those of the big cat family, including those of the leopard and
wild cat, for at least two reasons.
Firstly,
footprints of big cats would be of folded nails whereas the pug marks
showed sharp nail indentations. Such sharp nails are found only in
animals such as domestic dogs, wolves and jackals. Secondly, all animals
that belong to the cat family have five nails but in the pug marks,
only four nails are seen. “Based on the pug marks, in
terms of their shape, length and impact on soil, the animal seems to be
an adult male jackal. Generally, an adult male jackal is slightly
bigger than a female jackal,” said a senior biologist.
On
Friday, a team of forest officials led by V.C. Rahul, district forest
officer (DFO) in Tiruvallur, inspected forest areas in four villages
such as Allimedu, Serkadu, Orakkadu and Bhoodalam near Sholavaram.
S.
Nagaraj (37) of the tribal community in Allimedu village near
Sholavaram said he saw a brownish animal at a distance of roughly 50
feet around 6 a.m. on Friday when he was on his way to his neighbour’s
farmland. “It was brown in colour and had a big head
with fur. When I saw the animal, I ran away in fear,” said Nagaraj. The
team found pug marks on the pathway in the wooded areas that have a
large track of cashew trees in Allimedu village. Immediately, a search
was launched by the team but they were unable to find any big cat.
A team of forest officials have been deployed in the forest areas to keep a vigil on the movement of wild animals.
Residents
said a decade ago, a leopard was found in the forest areas covering
these villages and was trapped. Forest officials said the border areas
between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have a substantial population of
leopards.
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