Summary:
“Despite the lack of signs, forest officials are keeping a close watch over the area,” Sharma told TOI. However, they were unable to trace any pug marks of the wild cat in the area.The forest officials assured villagers that they would install traps in the vicinity to detect the movement, if any, of the wild cat.Sharma said that earlier, too, they had received a complaint of a leopard sighting near the industrial training institute (ITI), Farmagudi.However, when forest officials searched the area, they failed to spot any signs of its presence. Ponda: Working on a tip-off about the presence of the leopard that had eaten a goat in the hilly area of Paniwada that borders Kavlem and Borim villages, Ponda range forest officers (RFO) commenced a search for the wild cat.Deputy conservator of forests, Ponda, Kuldeep Sharma, however, said that they were unable to trace evidence of it yet.On Wednesday, Kavlem resident Rama Doifode lodged a complaint that a leopard had attacked his heard of goats which were out grazing. Doifode said the wild cat caught one goat and dragged it into the nearby forest.Startled to see the wild cat at such close quarters, his son, who was grazing the heard, was unable to rescue the goat, Doifode said, adding that the attack occurred in broad daylight, at around 1.30pm.Upon receiving the complaint, Ponda RFOs went to the site of the incident..