Two girls injured in separate leopard attacks in Gujarat's Navsari

Navsari: Two 6-year-old girls were injured in separate leopard attacks in Gujarat's Navsari district, officials said on Sunday.

On Saturday evening, Siddhi Patel was attacked and injured by a leopard in Upsal village in Vansda taluka when she was walking to her home with her mother, Assistant Conservator of Forest JD Rathod said.

"She sustained injuries on the neck, ear and chest and has been hospitalised. The forest department has placed two cages and set up trap cameras and CCTV cameras as part of efforts to catch the leopard," Rathod said.

In another incident, a 6-year-old girl was attacked and injured at Motivalzar village in the same taluka late Thursday evening, officials said.

She has been admitted in a hospital in Surat. Valsad Member of Parliament Dhaval Patel visited the hospital on Friday and met the child.

Amid a rise in leopard attacks, Minister of State for Forest and Environment Mukesh Patel said his department is making arrangements to ensure the big cats keep away from human habitats and remain confined to forests.

"We have made arrangements to cage leopards which enter human settlements. To ensure leopards do not come out of the forest, chital, a source of food for the big cats, are being released," Patel told reporters.