BIJNOR: Thirty-year-old Madan Singh and his wife, Sunita Devi, 27, were busy working in an agricultural field in BijnorтАЩs Asfabad Chaman village as their three-year-old daughter, Gayatri, was playing nearby when a leopard pounced on the child and was about to drag her away. But the parents decided not to let go of their baby without putting up a fight.
Showing immense courage, the father attacked the feline while the mother screamed at the top of her voice which unsettled the animal and it eventually fled but not before injuring the child. The girl was immediately rushed to the hospital where she is being treated for gashes.
BijnorтАЩs divisional forest officer, AK Singh, said, тАЬWe have set up cages in sensitive areas where leopard attacks have happened in the recent past. Eleven teams have been constituted to capture the big cat. We have also appealed to local villagers not to venture alone into the fields, especially with kids in tow.тАЭ
In the Afzalgarh region where the incident took place, four persons, including two minor children, have been killed in such attacks in just the last month. Chaman Singh, a farmer, said, тАЬWith the harvesting season in full swing, farmers are spending a lot more time in the fields, leading to a rise in human-leopard conflicts. Thirteen villagers were killed in the last five months in the district. But the authorities have failed to track down the felines or protect us. If such negligence continues, we will stage a protest at the collectorate.тАЭ
Showing immense courage, the father attacked the feline while the mother screamed at the top of her voice which unsettled the animal and it eventually fled but not before injuring the child. The girl was immediately rushed to the hospital where she is being treated for gashes.
BijnorтАЩs divisional forest officer, AK Singh, said, тАЬWe have set up cages in sensitive areas where leopard attacks have happened in the recent past. Eleven teams have been constituted to capture the big cat. We have also appealed to local villagers not to venture alone into the fields, especially with kids in tow.тАЭ
In the Afzalgarh region where the incident took place, four persons, including two minor children, have been killed in such attacks in just the last month. Chaman Singh, a farmer, said, тАЬWith the harvesting season in full swing, farmers are spending a lot more time in the fields, leading to a rise in human-leopard conflicts. Thirteen villagers were killed in the last five months in the district. But the authorities have failed to track down the felines or protect us. If such negligence continues, we will stage a protest at the collectorate.тАЭ
