Leopard kills 2-year-old boy on walk with family in Mumbai
A two-year-old boy was attacked and killed by a leopard while he was out for a walk with his family on Saturday in Mumbai. The boy was grabbed and taken away by the leopard while the elders were walking ahead, officials said. He was brought to a hospital where doctors declared him dead and said he died of blood loss.
A two-year-old boy was attacked and killed by a leopard on Saturday evening, close to Film City in Goregaon (East).The Mumbai forest range said the incident took place around 5.30pm at Moracha Pada, near the helipad at Aarey. Vihaan Nilesh Garuda, the son of a Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) staffer Nilesh Garuda, suffered injuries on his neck and was rushed to the Hindu Hruday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray Trauma Care Municipal Hospital at Jogeshwari, where he was declared dead.?The incident took place when Vihaan was with 15 members of his family. They had come for an evening walk to Aarey. As the elders walked ahead, Vihaan was grabbed by the leopard and taken away within seconds,? said Sameer Inamdar, round forest officer, Mumbai forest range. ?The family searched for him and found the leopard had left the boy?s body a few metres from where it grabbed him.?Inamdar said the body was badly bruised and Vihaan died of blood loss. ?The leopard did not eat any part of Vihaan?s body,? Inamdar said.Forest officers said a complete investigation will be done.?This is probably the first time the kin of a forest staffer has been attacked in Mumbai. We will go back to the site and trace the incident to understand what exactly happened,? said Santosh Kank, range forest officer, Mumbai.This is the fourth leopard attack this year.On May 29, a four-year-old boy, a resident of Royal Palms in Aarey Colony, was attacked by a leopard. On March 17, a three-year-old boy was attacked near Khadakpada, a tribal hamlet inside the forests of Aarey Milk Colony. The boy escaped with injuries on his chest and throat after local residents scared the leopard away. On May 21, a three-year-old boy was saved by his mother after she snatched him away from the claws of a leopard that had pounced on him in Chafyachapada, Aarey. 