Two killed in big cat attacks in Madhya Pradesh forests
A 65-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl died in separate incidents in Shahdol district, according to the Deccan Chronicle.
Two people, including a minor girl, were killed by big cats in the forests of Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol district within a 24-hour period, officials said on Thursday.
According to the Deccan Chronicle, Rajendra Yadav, a 65-year-old man from Chatva village, died in the Panpath buffer zone of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.
A forest officer said Yadav was suspected to have been attacked by a tiger while tending to his buffaloes. The officer noted that the injuries on his body indicated he was mauled to death.
In a separate incident in Beohari village, a 15-year-old girl was killed in the early hours of Wednesday. Officials said she was dragged into the forest while sleeping in her courtyard.
The girl's mother and sister found her body in the jungle after a search. Divisional forest officer Taruna Verma visited the site and found leopard pugmarks, suggesting a leopard may have killed her.
Panpath buffer zone sub-divisional officer Bhura Gaikward visited the site of the first incident to conduct a probe.