Chennai, May 12 (IANS): A leopard's carcass was found at Valparai in Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), Tamil Nadu on Thursday morning.

Usman, a tea shop owner at Valparai, found the carcass in the morning when he went to check his henhouse and informed the forest officials.

Forest officials told IANS that the animal would have died of shock after its forearm got stuck in the mesh of the henhouse.

Deputy Director of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), D. Ganesh told IANS that there were no external injuries on the body. He said: "There are no external injuries on the body of the leopard. Its teeth and claw are intact."

He said that the actual cause of its death would be ascertained only after a post-mortem which will be conducted as per the protocol of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

On Wednesday, the carcass of a wild tusker was found at the Coimbatore forest division while a special forest team was on patrol.