Indian mother saves child from leopard's jaws
20 October BBC News
A mother in northern India chased a leopard into the forest to
retrieve her child from the animal's jaws.The leopard grabbed
seven-year-old Atul while his mother Draupadi was working at a farm in
Uttar Pradesh state.
Draupadi shouted for help and chased the animal with a sickle in her
hand. Many other villagers also gave chase, a forestry department
official said.The leopard finally dropped the boy, who has been taken to
hospital with serious injuries.The incident took place at Mukhiya Farm
near Katraniya Ghat forest.The regional tiger conservation society has
given 2,500 rupees ($47; £29) for Atul's treatment, Ram Krishna, a local
forest department official told the BBC by telephone.
He said the leopard population in the forest had increased in the
past few years and the animals had been increasingly straying into
nearby villages in search of food.There have been reports of several
attacks by leopards in the villages around the forests, the official
said.Wildlife experts say there are no reliable population estimates for
leopards in India, but rough estimates put their number at about 10,000. |