Rajkot: A five-year-old kid was mauled by the lioness and became its feast after he was found playing with the cubs in the farm in Ucchaiya the coastal village of Amreli district.
According to reports, the incident occurred on early Tuesday morning when Kishore Devipujak suddenly woke up around 4 am hearing some growling sound and went out to find two cute lion cubs.
The boy started fondling and playing with the cubs, completely unaware of the fact that their mother a lioness was around.
As soon as the mother realized, she pounced and savagely attacked the boy and ate some of his body parts.
The incident happened in the area which is 3km from Port Pipavav, a private port run by APM Terminal and 12 km away from Rajula town.
The kid was sleeping outside in the open in his farm, located alongside a railway track that leads to the port.
Forest officials, however, said that the lioness might have mistaken the boy to be some prey as she had killed a goat at the same place in the recent past.
“The lioness caught the boy by his neck and ran for nearly three km in a grassland opposite the port. His family members and others even chased her. The lioness was familiar with these people as she moved around in the same area,” Sandeep Kumar, deputy conservator of forest Shetrunji division said.
“The lioness was very angry. The forest department team has found her location in a near-by grassland and a trap has been set to capture her,” Kumar said.
The kid’s head and parts of legs were already eaten by the lioness when the team reached.
Villagers said some lions were also seen moving around in this area in the morning.
Congress MLA from Rajula, Amrish Der, has demanded creating a new sanctuary for lions in this area.
Talking to media after the incident, Der said, “The number of lions in this coastal area is increasing. A sanctuary will help avoid such incidents of man-animal conflict besides providing protection to lions.”