Tribal farmer in Kerala gets Puli sobriquet, hero’s welcome for killing leopard

An Idukki district tribal farmer, who killed a leopard in self-defence was hailed a hero and earned several awards for his courageous act.

Gopalan, a native of Mankulam in Idukki, killed a female leopard on September 3, when the leopard pounced on him. He tried to fend off the attack by waving a knife at the animal, which caused fatal injuries.

While the forest department gave Gopalan financial assistance of Rs 5,000—he is recovering from a fracture on hand—various other organisations, including the Kerala Independent Farmers’ Association, which has been campaigning against man-animal conflicts in Kerala, also provided financial assistance to Gopalan.

Read | Man kills leopard to save himself in Kerala

Many local residents reportedly visited him to thank for his heroism, because the leopard was increasingly becoming a threat in the region over the last few months. It had apparently killed many domestic animals in the area.

Many were now calling him ‘Puli’ (Malayalam word for leopard) Gopalan.

Mankulam divisional forest officer G Jayachandran announced that the doctors who conducted the post-mortem examination on the big cat said the leopard was between eight and ten years of age and had been suffering from various ailments.

“It could have been weak and that could be the reason why it died of the injuries in the encounter with Gopalan. But since it was an act of self-defence, no action was initiated against Gopalan,” Jayachandran said.