A two-year-old leopard cat was found dead near Ketty in the Nilgiris district here on Saturday.

According to forest officials, local residents came across the carcass of a leopard cub near Ketty Village in the Coonoor Taluk and informed the revenue officials and the forest department. When the forest department officials retrieved the carcass, they found out that it was a leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), a small wild cat found in the Western Ghats and other parts of Asia.

A higher official from the forest department said that the cat was a female, and could have died during a fight with another cat. “We fear that it could have been killed by probably a big cat like a leopard. But leopards would have eaten it up. So, it most likel was killed in a fight with a member of its own breed, probably a bigger male,” the official added.

Forest department official have conducted an autopsy on the carcass.