The tea-estate workers of No:12 estate, Lower Paranai reported the forest officials this morning about a dead leopard lying amidst the tea bushes.

District Forest Official (DFO) Sakthivel, Chandran along with staff of anti-poaching department rushed to the spot and retrieved the carcass of the leopard. An on the spot post-moterm examination was conducted by the veterinary team.

After initial examination DFO Sakthivel reported that 'The way the animal is found dead is very suspicious. Hence, a full-fledged investigation on the death of the leopard is on. The Manager and the estate workers will be questioned in this regard. The leopard is estimated to have died a week before and it's a female leopard probably around 2-years-old'.

Frequent death of leopards around the western ghats region has caused huge concern to the forest officials and environmentalists.