Gujarat: Lion gets stuck in snare, fence; freed after 3 hours’ ordeal

RAJKOT: It took the forest department three long hours to free a fully grown lion that got stuck in a fence of a farm in a village of Palitana taluka of Bhavnagar district on Friday. While the task was daunting in itself, what added to the foresters’ worries were causing further injury to the already stressed animal aged around 12 years which was also caught in a snare.
According to the forest department, it was a double whammy for the lion which first got stuck in a snare. Frightened, it started running with the cable in its leg which got stuck in the fencing at Lavjibhai Gohil’s farm on Friday morning.
It got further agitated and in the process uprooted three fencing poles while trying to free itself, but in vain. Ultimately it soon stressed itself out. Thankfully, Gohil saw the incident and soon informed the forest department. A team quickly reached the spot but saw that the lion, hurt and stressed, needed tranquilizing.
Deputy conservator of forest, Shetrunji division, Nisha Raj told TOI, “It took us three long hours to finally tranquilize the lion which was highly stressed. Our team was accompanied by veterinary doctors who treated the minor injuries before shifting the animal to the Vadal animal care centre. We will release the lion in the forest within two or three days.”
While farmers generally fence their farms with iron poles to protect crops from both domestic as well as wild animals, electric fences near farms are strictly not allowed. A probe, however, has been ordered as to how the lion got stuck in the snare.