Girl attacked by leopard, man by lion in last one week

SIBTE HUSAIN BUKHARI
Posted online: Tuesday , April 22, 2008 at 03:08:51

Junagadh, April 21 Arvind Abhangi was working in a mango orchard when a group of lions attacked him from behind a tree. Even as one of the lions sunk its teeth into his thighs, he managed to extract himself from the beast’s clutches, and climb onto a tree
Man-animal conflict is again on the rise in areas around the Gir forest. On an average, two to three such incidents are reported from Junagadh district every week.

On Monday, a seven-year-old girl was injured in a leopard attack, while in a separate incident, a man was attacked by a group of lions, leaving him badly injured.

According to forest officials, the first incident occurred on the outskirts of Kuba ravni village, where a leopard attacked one Bhavisha Mansukh when was was playing in the fields. However, she was rescued by her parents and admitted to the Junagadh civil hospital.

In a separate incident, a group of three lions attacked a man when he was working in an orchard on Saturday afternoon. The incident occurred on the outskirts of Ramapara village located on the border of Gir forest. The man was rushed to the Talala town public health centre and later shifted to the Junagadh civil hospital, where he is stated out of danger.

According to reports, Arvind Abhangi (35) was working in a mango orchard when a group of lions attacked him from behind a tree. Even as one of the lions sunk its teeth into his thighs, he managed to extract himself from the beast's clutches, and climb onto a tree. And as he was trying to climb on to the highest branches, another lion caught hold of his foot. He somehow managed to extract his foot and climb to safety. He came down once the three beasts went away and rushed to the public health centre.

Meanwhile on Monday, the carcass of a 9-feet-long crocodile was recovered from a dam on the outskirts of Paswala village in Junagadh taluka falling under Girnar north forest range. It is suspected that some one had killed the reptile.

Acting on tip-off, Deputy Conservator of Forest (Girnar range) rushed to the Paswala Dam along with his staff members and after a two-day exercise fished out the carcass of the crocodile from the dam.

"It appears that the crocodile succumbed to some illness. The carcass has been shifted to the Sakkarbagh Zoo in Junagadh for a postmortem. However, the exact cause of his death can only be ascertained after receiving the post-mortem report," said Range Forest Officer Vijay Yoganandi.

However, he also did not rule out foul play and maintained that patrolling has been intensified in the area surrounding the dam."

Source: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Girl-attacked-by-leopard-man-by-lion-in-last-one-week/300029/