INDIA: Animal attack - Unidentified carnivores bite nine kids

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Link: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070202/asp/siliguri/story_7337301.asp

 

Animal attack - Unidentified carnivores bite nine kids

OUR CORRESPONDENT

 

Malda, Feb. 1: A pack of unidentified carnivores bit nine children in

Gopalpur village in the Manikchak police station area this morning.

The children have had to be admitted to the district hospital.

 

Baffled by the attack, the villagers could not identify the animals,

which they claim, are either jackals, or striped hyenas. Gopalpur is

located about 45 km from Malda town.

 

The gram panchayat pradhan of Gopalpur, Ibrahim Sheikh, said the

incident took place around 9 am when a group of children left for the

fields to pick spinach. Manirul Sheikh, one of the victims, said: " We

were picking the leaves when suddenly we were attacked by a pack of

animals. All of us started running but the animals caught up and bit

us, taking off pieces of flesh from our legs. They even attacked the

dogs that rushed out of the village. One of them caught a dog in its

teeth and flung it away. "

 

" All the children have been administered anti-rabies serum. Five of

them have serious injuries, " said Malda chief medical officer of

health Radharaman Banik. " We have waived all charges as the kids come

from poor families. "

 

" These animals have been raiding the village at night and taking away

our livestock. The village is surrounded by large bamboo groves and

forests where they take shelter. We have been staying up all night

with lathis and spears, but we are yet to get one of them, " said

Humayun Sheikh, one of the villagers.

 

Residents recalled that four years ago a child was killed and eaten by

unidentified animals in the neighbouring village of Dharampur.