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Ahmedabad: Imagine waking up in the middle of the night and seeing a lion perched on top of the refrigerator?
Enough to cause a heart attack, some may say. But a panic attack was all that the family of Mulubhai Rambhai Lakhannotra suffered.
After walking around the house for some time, the lion left without harming anybody.
The incident occurred at Amreli in Gujarat early on Friday. The Lakhannotra family was fast asleep till some strange noises woke them up. The first thing they noticed was the lion perched on the fridge, looking into the kitchen.
Videos being circulated on social media shows a torch beam focussed on the face of the animal. Villagers were alerted by the screams of the family and turned up to help. After rescuing Lakhannotra and his family, they beat drums and shone bright torches at the lion till it finally left.
Lakhannotra said that the animal may have entered through a gap in the roof of the house in search of prey. Villagers in that area sometimes tether goats or other domestic animals indoors to prevent them from being carried away by wild animals.
According to him, it took nearly two hours to drive away the lion. “It did not behave in an aggressive manner. It simply left after realising that there was no food around,” he said.
Asiatic lions are regularly spotted in villages around the Gir National Park. In the past, videos have emerged of lions near wells and on busy roads.
While wild animals and humans have co-existed peacefully in the area for years, the forest department has been taking steps to prevent interactions that may lead to a conflict any day.
