Child mauled to death by lioness in Gujarat's Amreli

Five-year-old mauled to death by lioness in Gujarat's Amreli district, highlighting human-wildlife conflict in Asiatic lion habitat.

A five-year-old son of a farm labourer has been mauled to death by a lioness in Gujarat's Amreli district, a forest official said on Tuesday, October 22, 2024.

The child was playing outside his hut in a plantation area of Navi Jikadri village under Jafrabad taluka on Monday (October 21) evening when the big cat attacked him and took him away, range forest officer G.L. Vaghela said.

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After an extensive search carried out by locals and forest department personnel in the area, the body was found and sent to a hospital, he said.

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“The victim was the son of farm labourers,” he said. Efforts were being made to capture the lioness, the official said.

Gujarat is the only abode of Asiatic lions, which has seen its population grow significantly from 284 in 1990 to 674 in 2020, as per the last census carried out by the forest department.