2006-01-19

Leopard attack in bamboo grove!

Neighbor-owner of broiler-farm (fortunately 150 m away from our terrace!) came rushing to borrow a phone. The mobile was cut-off in preparation of tomorrow's mega-demo, so he had to use our phone for a call to Bhaktapur Hospital. I waited politely on the terrace, as a large group of grown-up boys and young men run across the pale-green winter-wheat fields, shouting and gesticulating. Neighbor finished his call and came up, where my lady waited with a cup of tea. Boy had he a story to tell. One of his workers, a local village chap, heard a newari girl, about 5, from a (another-) neighbor's farm to cry "Chor, chor", which means "Thief" from Khyber Pass down to Tamil Nadu, and in it's slightly modified Roma (Gypsy, in old, rasist times...) form "Chorka" is also known in whole of Eastern Europe and the Balkans. And due to modern immigration, even in Helsingør, largest Roma colony west of Teplice (western Bohemia) this word is understood!
But back to this village lad - when he heard the cry he rushed to the little girl who stammered "there where two thieves", and they took a goat. In the direction she pointed, at the western edge of our hill, there was to his knowledge only one grazing goat, HIS! Filled with righteous rage, he set after the "thieves". The edge of the hill goes steep down, with large bamboo growth with great view of Changu Narayn temple on the hill, and there was his goat - in jaws of a leopard! He, or more likely she, hungry mother I think, dropped the goat and charged the poor, anarmed guy. It bit him on right upper arm and badly mauled him on his back and run away in the growth. I couldn't help - can't walk more than 20 m before my newly healed leg gives up - I could just watch as they carried him ob a bamboo stretcher across the fields to the road, out of sight, to wait for the ambulance... I heard later he lost lot of blood and is in deep pain in the hospital.
And the goat is dead. And she was pregnant, the neighbor said, the poor fetus was still moving! And the leopard has not been cornered, maybe staring down from some bamboo grove on the Telkot ridge above, growling with hunger.
This guy, according to village lore, is a kind-of unlucky bird (german: Pechvogel): he had three sheep grazing last year and a pack of 10 dogs from our village tore them to pieces, neighbor laughed, showing with small movement of his hands how much. or better - how little - there was left of ALL three sheep! Some people really seam to ATTRACT bad luck!

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