RAJKOT: Early on Tuesday morning, five-year-old Kishore Devipujak suddenly woke up hearing some growling sound. His groggy eyes sparkled seeing two cute lion cubs in the farm in Uchhaiya, a coastal village of Amreli district. He started fondling and playing with the cubs, completely unaware that their mother was around.
Before the little boy could realize anything, the lioness pounced and savagely attacked him. So furious was the lioness that she even ate some of this body parts.
The incident happened sometime between 4am and 5am, 3km from Port Pipavav, a private port run by APM Terminal and 12 km away from Rajula town.
Kishore was sleeping in the open outside his hut in the farm, which is located along side a railway track that leads to the port. His parents work as farm labourers.
Forest officials, however, said that the lioness might have mistaken the boy to be some prey as she had killed a goat at the same place in the recent past.
“The lioness caught the boy by his neck and ran for nearly three km in a grassland opposite the port. His family members and others even chased her. The lioness was familiar with these people as she moved around in the same area,” Sandeep Kumar, deputy conservator of forest, Shetrunji division, told TOI.
“The lioness was very angry. The forest department team has found her location in a near-by grassland and a trap has been set to capture her,” Kumar said.
According to forest officials, the boy’s head and parts of legs were eaten by the lioness. Villagers said some lions were also seen moving around in this area in the morning.
Congress MLA from Rajula, Amrish Der, has demanded creating a new sanctuary for lions in this area. Talking to media after the incident, Der said, “The number of lions in this coastal area is increasing. A sanctuary will help avoid such incidents of man-animal conflict besides providing protection to lions.”
The expanding lion population outside the protected areas and close to human habitats is fast becoming a cause of concern.
On December 23 last year, a farm labourer from Madhya Pradesh, Kadu Bhilad, was dragged and killed by a lion in Jira village of Dhari taluka in Amreli. Bhilad had gone to answer nature’s call and the lion mistook him for a prey as he was covered in blanket.
In December 2018, a lion had ripped off a fisherman named Rama Chudasama on the sea coast near Mahuva.
Before the little boy could realize anything, the lioness pounced and savagely attacked him. So furious was the lioness that she even ate some of this body parts.
The incident happened sometime between 4am and 5am, 3km from Port Pipavav, a private port run by APM Terminal and 12 km away from Rajula town.
Kishore was sleeping in the open outside his hut in the farm, which is located along side a railway track that leads to the port. His parents work as farm labourers.
Forest officials, however, said that the lioness might have mistaken the boy to be some prey as she had killed a goat at the same place in the recent past.
“The lioness caught the boy by his neck and ran for nearly three km in a grassland opposite the port. His family members and others even chased her. The lioness was familiar with these people as she moved around in the same area,” Sandeep Kumar, deputy conservator of forest, Shetrunji division, told TOI.
“The lioness was very angry. The forest department team has found her location in a near-by grassland and a trap has been set to capture her,” Kumar said.
According to forest officials, the boy’s head and parts of legs were eaten by the lioness. Villagers said some lions were also seen moving around in this area in the morning.
Congress MLA from Rajula, Amrish Der, has demanded creating a new sanctuary for lions in this area. Talking to media after the incident, Der said, “The number of lions in this coastal area is increasing. A sanctuary will help avoid such incidents of man-animal conflict besides providing protection to lions.”
The expanding lion population outside the protected areas and close to human habitats is fast becoming a cause of concern.
On December 23 last year, a farm labourer from Madhya Pradesh, Kadu Bhilad, was dragged and killed by a lion in Jira village of Dhari taluka in Amreli. Bhilad had gone to answer nature’s call and the lion mistook him for a prey as he was covered in blanket.
In December 2018, a lion had ripped off a fisherman named Rama Chudasama on the sea coast near Mahuva.
Trending Topics
LATEST VIDEOS
More from TOI
Navbharat Times
Featured Today in Travel
Get the app