Shahapur man fights off leopard with stick

Thane: A 20-year-old man, who went to collect dry twigs in the forest near Vihigaon village of Shahapur, was reportedly attacked by a leopard around 4pm on Monday

Thane: A 20-year-old man, who went to collect dry twigs in the forest near Vihigaon village of Shahapur, was reportedly attacked by a leopard around 4pm on Monday.

HT Image

The man, identified as Mangesh More, however, saved himself by using a stick to scare the leopard with one hand and threw rocks with the other to distract the big cat. He suffered deep scratches on his back in the attack.

More, who was alone in the area, fought with the leopard single-handedly for over 10 minutes. The leopard gave up and fled inside the forest.

“It is my daily routine to collect dry sticks from the forest and I did not realise there was a leopard lurking in the bushes. It attacked me from behind, however, I was holding a bunch of sticks in my hand and threw a few of them towards the leopard. Then I caught hold of a bigger stick and managed to keep the big cat at bay. I knew that I can’t outrun the leopard and did not want to hurt it as the animal had come in the buffer area only in search of food.”

Forest officials from Shahapur confirmed the incident and said,” The man suffered some scratches. The leopard is roaming around some villages, mostly in search of easy prey. We are creating awareness in villages to take precautions while moving around in the forest.