BAGESHWAR: It was a calm and quiet evening, but soon screams and cries for help ripped through the darkness in Uttarakhand’s Kafoli village as a leopard cub barged into the kitchen of a house and attacked a woman and her daughter. Seeing the intruder, their pet dog, Jullie – a local breed – jumped in to rescue its masters and started biting the big cat fiercely.
The pet fought off the leopard, which seemed to be around six months old, for nearly 20 minutes. The fight came to an end after the injured big cat stumbled after hitting a heavy iron stove kept outside the kitchen door. As the appliance fell sideways, the cowering leopard got trapped between the stands.
The leopard cub entered the house of Trilok Chandra Pandey around 8pm on Monday. His wife, Kamla Devi, 45, and their daughter, Vijaya, 15, were in the kitchen. Instinctively, she pushed her daughter out of the way. Their frantic bid to escape left them with injuries as they fell on the ground hard.
The terrified family alerted the forest department, which dispatched a rescue team to capture the animal. Forest ranger Shyam Singh Karayat said the dog left several bite wounds on the wild animal.
Kamla suffered fractures in both her jaws, while Vijaya suffered minor wounds. The two were taken to district hospital 14 km away, but as it lacked proper infrastructure, they were advised to go back home after first aid and return the next morning. With no other option, they walked back home in the middle of the night.
Pandey said leopard encounters have become more frequent in the village. “Over a dozen leopards prowl in the area, making it unsafe for people even during the day. We can’t even tie our livestock outside anymore ,” he said.