Villagers Attack Kuno’s Cheetah-Tracking Team; Know What Happened

Pic courtesy Free Press Journal

Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh): A group of villagers attacked the cheetah-tracking team of Kuno National Park.

Mistaking the team of officials for dacoits, the villagers opened fire and pelted stones at their vehicle in the wee hours of Friday.

According to reports, four forest workers were injured in the incident and are undergoing treatment at Pohri Hospital. The forest department’s vehicle was also damaged in the attack.

The team was looking for a female cheetah named Asha, who fled her enclosure.

The forest officials reached the forest near Pohri area around 4 am to trace Asha. Villagers near Bhurikheda stopped the team and started questioning them. Despite being told they were on a mission to rescue a cheetah, the villagers did not pay heed and suspected them to be robbers.

Kuno DFO Prakash Kumar Verma said the female cheetah had left the limits of the national park on Thursday evening and advanced to Pohri forest in Shivpuri district, hence a four-member tracking team was dispatched to rescue her.