Stray Leopard Cub Becomes 'Star' In India
6:51pm UK, Sunday February 14, 2010
A leopard cub has become the talk of the town in northern India after appearing out of nowhere in the early morning and wandering onto a family's doorstep.
Nobody knows if the mother of the one-month-old cub abandoned her baby or whether she was killed or lost.
After receiving information that villagers had spotted a cub, Deputy Ranger of India's Forest Department Ram Gopal Chauhan arrived at the village of Bijnor.
"When we reached the site, we saw it was a leopard cub, one-month-old", he said
"To ensure his safety we took the cub to our station, where we fed it some milk. Then we took it for a medical check-up."
Ranger Chauhan and his team hope the cub will be reclaimed by its mother, if she is still alive.
India's leopards are increasingly threatened by poachers. Their habitat is also being depleted, forcing many to stray into human settlements.
They often attack people and cattle, and often get killed for it in return.
India's Wildlife Protection Society says that at least 228 leopards have been killed since January 2006, despite their endangered and protected status.
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