A wave of panic swept through the rural belt of Kanpur after a leopard attacked a goat and injured a farmer who attempted to rescue it in Nagla Shriram hamlet of Gram Panchayat Bahadurpur during the early hours of Thursday.
Farmer fights off leopard with stick
The injured farmer, Vinod Kumar Prajapati, reportedly fought off the leopard for nearly 10 minutes using a stick, managing to save himself and the remaining livestock despite suffering serious injuries to his right hand. The incident occurred around 3am when Vinod woke up after hearing loud cries from his goat. Due to a power outage, he used a battery lamp to inspect the area and discovered a leopard attacking the animal. When he attempted to rescue the goat, the leopard allegedly pounced on him and mauled his right hand with its claws. Vinod said he shouted for help, but villagers could not reach the spot immediately.
Leopard flees after confrontation
Despite the attack, he managed to grab a large stick and confront the animal, eventually forcing it to flee. One goat sustained severe injuries to its face and tail in the incident. The attack triggered fear among residents, who demanded that the forest department install cages in the area to capture the leopard. Pradeep Kumar said forest department staff had been sent to the village after receiving information about the incident. He added that reports of leopard sightings had also emerged from the Nadgawan area two days earlier, following which forest teams had intensified night patrolling operations.
