Rajkot: A hunting venture by a pride of Asiatic lions went awry in the early hours of Friday after an alert herd of cattle raised an alarm, leaving a young sub-adult big cat trapped inside a residential home in Malaknesh village of Khambha taluka in Amreli district.According to forest department officials, a group of three to four lions strayed into the village during the wee hours of Friday and entered the verandah of a local resident, Amru Varu, where several cows were tethered. While the predators managed to attack one cow, the remaining cattle began bellowing in panic.The commotion woke the sleeping household around 5 a.m. Startled by the sudden human presence and the noise, the older lions fled the scene. However, a sub-adult lion—estimated to be between one and two years old—became disoriented in the chaos. Unable to trace an escape route, the confused feline bolted into an empty room adjacent to the verandah to hide.Acting swiftly, family members locked the room from the outside to avert any danger, even as neighbours began assembling outside the house.The forest department was alerted soon after. Speaking on the incident, Assistant Conservator of Forest (Una) Kapil Bhatiya said, “We received a call around 5:30 a.m. and a team was dispatched immediately. Given that the lion was only about one to two years old, we initially attempted to secure and rescue it without using tranquilizers. When those initial efforts did not succeed, a veterinary doctor was called in to tranquilize the animal safely.“The rescue operation lasted two and a half hours, drawing large crowds of villagers who gathered to witness the exercise. Once safely immobilized, the young lion was transported to the Jasadhar Animal Care Centre for observation.
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