The animal was found hanging in a huge mahogany tree from the cable wires at the plantation in Konnakkuzhi in Pariyaram forest range yesterday, forest department officials said today.
After being informed by locals, forest officials, led by Range Officer Shaji Kumar, rushed to the spot and removed the carcass.
"The big cat was caught in a snare suspected to be set by some farmers to check crop raiding wild animals. The leopard might have trapped in the wire cable and ran to the rubber plantation in a bid to wriggle out of it," Pariyaram forest range officer Shaji Kumar told PTI.