DIMAPUR, JULY 18 (MExN): A day out at the zoo nearly proved fatal for a man Sunday, July 18. A sixty-five year-old man identified as Kivikha Chophy was seriously mauled by a caged leopard at Nagaland Zoological Garden, Rangapahar at around 12:00 pm today. Another man, one Kughazhe Yeptho, said to be a nephew of the injured got away with deep gashes to the neck and elbows when he tried to free his uncle from the leopard’s grip. Both men are of Thilixu village.
According to relatives of the injured, who is now admitted in a state of coma at the district hospital, Dimapur, the man suffered severe trauma on the head and a deep gash on the left cheek inflicted by the wild cat’s front paws. A relative said that the injured in order to have a closer look at the animal, crossed over the safety barricade encircling the leopard’s enclosure a few feet away. The bamboo barricade, the relatives said is almost non-existent while the openings of the animal’s cage were too big to be called safe.
Other visitors were also in close proximity to the enclosure during the incident, the relative said. As the man turned his back on the cage to leave, the leopard is said to have lashed out its paws through the cage’s gaps and got hold of the man’s head. The nephew who was beside him is said to have grasped at the leopard’s paws by both hands in order to loosen the cat’s grip on the head. By the time the leopard let off its hold, the man had already suffered severe trauma on the scalp and lost consciousness as result of blood loss.
The man was rushed to the district hospital where doctors operated on the injury while also administering a unit of blood. The man was yet to regain consciousness till late evening. The nephew was sent home after administration of first-aid.
Forest Ranger, Rangapahar terming the incident as an accident said that police have examined and verified it. The ranger said that there is a clear pictorial representation put up at the safety barricade about 8-10 feet away encircling the leopard’s cage warning visitor’s from going near the animals or crossing the cordon.
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