Scooterist injured after collision with wild animal near Coimbatore

By Wafia Hasanath

COIMBATORE: A 57-year-old man was injured after the scooter he was riding on collided with an unidentified animal on the Palakkad–Coimbatore Road near Madukkarai forest range on Friday night. Following the incident, forest officers installed cameras on the Madukkarai Road to detect wild animal movements in the area.

A forest officer identified the injured man as N Sivasamy of Kovaipudur in the city. He said the incident occurred at 8.30pm on Friday when Sivasamy was travelling on his two-wheeler from a quarry office at Madukkarai to his house. “Suddenly, an unidentified animal came out of the reserve forest area, and the scooter hit the animal. Sivasamy lost control over his vehicle and fell on the road.”

Other motorists rushed Sivasamy to a private hospital at Madukkarai and alerted the forest officers.

Officers attached to the Madukkarai forest range visited the spot and later met Sivasamy at the private hospital. “There are no external injuries or nail marks on Sivasamy’s body,” the officer said.

Madukkarai forest range officer V Thirumurugan said while people claimed it was a leopard that hit Sivasamy’s two-wheeler, there were no pugmarks in the area. “Since the place is known for frequent wild animal movements, there is a chance for a leopard or other wild animal to cross the road. As a precautionary measure, two cameras have been installed on Madukkarai Road to monitor wildlife movement,” Thirumurugan said.