Missing 5-year-old boy found half-eaten by lioness

An agricultural labourer in the Amreli district of Gujrat, India contacted the police after his 5-year-old son went missing on Tuesday. Kishor Parmar had gone to sleep with his parents in an open area close to an agricultural field in Uchaiya village. His parents found his bed empty in the middle of the night. The boy's half-eaten body was found in a forest patch a few kilometres away. Forest officers suspect that the boy's killer is an Asiatic lioness which is nursing two cubs.

Parmar's family had been working in the Uchaiya village which is close to the protected Gir forest. That evening, the family went to sleep in an open area close to the fields where they had set up a temporary shelter. It is unknown if the boy was dragged away from his bed or if he had moved away from his family before being attacked.

His parents realised that the child was missing at around 1 am. They started searching for the child but found no signs of the missing boy. The police and the forest officers were alerted since the village is located close to the national park from where wild animals often enter human settlements.

Four kilometres away from the village the forest officers searched a forested area known as Bherai Vidi. Around 6 am local time the forest officers made the gruesome discovery of the boy's partially eaten remains.

Dushyant Vasavada, Chief Conservator of Forests, Junagadh wildlife circle informed the Indian Express that the forest officers have been tracking the movement of a lioness with two young cubs. The lioness was tracked close to the village where the attack occurred. Vasavada added that there were no recent reports of animal attacks until Tuesday.

Lionesses tend to become more aggressive when rearing cubs. If the attack was by the lioness, then she poses a threat to the villagers. At the same time, the villagers might end up harming the lioness and her cubs. Vasavada said that the forest officers are trying to capture the animal.

Ring cages are being used to trap the lioness so that she and her cubs can be removed from human proximity.