Human-wildlife conflict is leading to some unprecedented situations both for the wild animals and us humans. There have been countless instances of big cats attacking pets as they are stifled for food since we have encroached upon their territory in a big way.
Recently, in another instance, in Shanan area of the Malyana ward in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, a leopard attacked an unassuming Labrador nicknamed ‘Jackie’ outside a house. The wild animal entered the multi-level building, climbing up the stairs and sized up its sleeping prey for an agonizingly long time before unleashing its fury. Pretty obviously the target was dog’s neck which the ferocious predator missed and had to drag the pet down the stairs to stifle it to death.
This incident happened at about 4 AM on the morning of October 11, waking-up the owner as he bravely chased down the two to catch the leopard off guard. Thankfully, the wild animal let go of the dog in the chaos and Jackie got a new lease of life. The adorable dog sustained wounds below his neck but luckily escaped the attack pretty much unharmed without any serious injuries.
Also Read: Rising Rate of Human-Animal Conflicts in India
Himachal Watcher, a local online magazine managed to get in touch with the owner Prakash and took an account of the whole incident. The owner told HW that Jackie, in fact, was sleeping outside the house of a relative half-a-kilometer away from his house. Since Jackie is a very friendly dog by nature, he frequently roams freely in the area and on the night of October 10, he had come to the house of the relative and slept outside their door.
He added that as soon as the leopard dropped Jackie from his clutches, the dog ran straight towards his home. To the surprise of the owner, Jackie was bleeding profusely as Prakash was intimated on phone about the sad incident by the relative.
Image: Himachal Watcher
The next morning Prakash took his valiant dog to the veterinarian who administered the needed treatment and now his wounds are healing fast. As always the cheerful labrador is busy chasing cats and charming everyone.
This story is a stark reminder of how we’re toying with the delicate balance of nature and its repercussions. On one hand, the leopard is just playing by its natural instincts of survival and on the other, the poor dog is the ultimate victim.
Image: Himachal Watcher
Not only pets but small children are also susceptible to such attacks which makes the situation even more complicated when it comes to the coexistence of humans and wild animals.