Shimla : A 45 year old man in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district was lucky to survive after a leopard attacked and clawed him.
Purva Chand, said he was passing through a forest near his village Sunday when the big cat sprang on him.
A newspaper report said Chand immediately gripped the paw of the leopard and both man and beast rolled down the hill, in the process the leopard released him.
Injured all over his body the man is recovering in a local hospital.
In a 20 year career published widely. He has worked for the BBC, AFP, The Statesman, IANS and the Business Standard . Known for his hard hitting writing and occasional off-beat stories. He lives in Shimla.
Just a few months ago, newspapers across the country published a photograph of an forest officer in blue safari suit, on a streetside in Mumbai suburbs, aiming his loaded pistol on the head of leopard, who had nearly eaten the man writhing in extreme pain and blood. The caption told us that he shot the leopard in its head and the man survived. Next day, “Animal Rights activists” were down in the streets demanding arrest of the the officer who shot the leopard. As I read the story today, I guess leopard got the wrong man. One by one, each of those animal righteous activists should be thrown before the each cat and let him (and her, yea why spare?) understand what animals are really about..This could be best solution to keep these cats alive in the eco-chain, who will never run out of the food, given the growing numbers of these self-appointed do-gooders of the wildlife and environment.