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The photograph, taken in India, shows the child narrowly escaping the animal’s attack in Goa
A desperate mother managed to save her child from the jaws of a leopard as she tried to escape from the wild animal in western India, local media reports said.
The woman, who has not been named, was near a forest station in Goa on Thursday when the big cat attacked her and her one-year-old daughter, the Press Trust of India said.
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The woman, who managed to release her son from the leopard’s mouth before receiving aid from the forest official, was injured in the attack.
A picture released by the news agency showed a clearly shaken-looking girl lying in a hospital bed, while another showed the leopard pulling off its sandals and pawing its head, apparently to try to get away.
The woman later passed out during treatment, it said.
Wild animals are frequent visitors to India’s forests, lakes and beaches, as well as to local towns.
It is not uncommon for rural villagers to confront wild animals while trying to escape from them, but many go home and little serious injuries are reported.
The latest attack in Goa came after a woman was snatched and killed by a leopard in the nearby state of Karnataka.
That incident prompted concern about the safety of thousands of trekkers and nature lovers in the state, which is a popular destination for hill-walkers and sightseers.
“The government is trying its best to curb such incidents, by installing motion sensors and cage traps,” Goa state’s forest minister Vishwajit Rane told reporters on Thursday.