Leopard attacks seven-year-old in Amreli

A seven-year-old boy was injured after a leopard allegedly attacked him in Jira-Dabhali village of Dhari taluka in Amreli district of Gujarat in the wee hours of Monday. This is second incident of a leopard attacking a child of tribal families from central Gujarat working as farm labourer in Amreli district in less than a week.

Range forest officer (RFO) of Dhari, Arun Thakar said the leopard entered a hut on a farm in Jira-Dabhali village at around 1 am and attacked the boy who was asleep with rest of members of his family. “However, hearing cries of the boy, the family members, who are tribal from central Gujarat working as farm labourers, woke up and shooed away the carnivore,” said Thakar.

The RFO further said the boy sustained injuries on his right hand was rushed to a government hospital in Dhari. “After giving primary treatment, doctors in Dhari referred the boy to Amreli for further treatment. He is out of danger as injuries are not very serious,” Thakar said.

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The incident comes four days after a leopard allegedly killed an 18-month-old boy of a similar tribal family in Bhundani village of nearby Khambha taluka of Amreli last Wednesday.

“We have placed cages in Jira-Dabhali village to trap the leopard and our staff is patrolling the area,” the RFO added.

Forest officers said the the female leopard which allegedly killed the boy in Bhundani village was caged on Saturday night.