Wild cat: ‘Dracula’ fails to survive captivity
Cat was feared in over 10 villages for attacking poultry, cattle and humans.
MIAN CHANNU:
A wild cat, famed and feared in over 10 villages in Mian Channu, died in a cage on Saturday, three days after it was captured and caged.
Captured after 10-days of rampage in the area, its captors told The Express Tribune they had offered it daintly foods, including meat and milk but it starved itself.
When the cat was captured on Thursday from chak 16/8 B-R, the villagers who had begun to refer to her as a ‘don’ rejoiced.
Imtiaz Ahmed told The Tribune that he had been very happy man when he received the news of the cat’s capture but its death had brought him grief. He said, “I suffered a loss of Rs 20,000 when the cat ate 500 chickens from my poultry farm. Once it was caged, it had became a source of amusement for our children.”
Another villager, Suleman Khan, claimed that the cat had attacked and killed a number of his buffalos. He said that she had also injured some men from the village. “I made a special cage. It was as big as a small lion.”
The operation to capture the cat was orchestrated by Mohammad Yar and Saleem Shaukat.
They told The Tribune that the losses had become unbearable and fear had spread in all neighbouring villages. They said that they had gathered a number of chicken and goats in Imtiaz’s poultry farm. “When the wild cat entered, we shut her in. Around 20 men entered and caught her with great difficulty.”
Aashir, another villager, said, “People had started calling it ‘dracula.’ It was after every living thing in our village.”
After its death on Saturday, villagers gave it a funeral and buried it in the village ground.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2012.
A wild cat, famed and feared in over 10 villages in Mian Channu, died in a cage on Saturday, three days after it was captured and caged.
Captured after 10-days of rampage in the area, its captors told The Express Tribune they had offered it daintly foods, including meat and milk but it starved itself.
When the cat was captured on Thursday from chak 16/8 B-R, the villagers who had begun to refer to her as a ‘don’ rejoiced.
Imtiaz Ahmed told The Tribune that he had been very happy man when he received the news of the cat’s capture but its death had brought him grief. He said, “I suffered a loss of Rs 20,000 when the cat ate 500 chickens from my poultry farm. Once it was caged, it had became a source of amusement for our children.”
Another villager, Suleman Khan, claimed that the cat had attacked and killed a number of his buffalos. He said that she had also injured some men from the village. “I made a special cage. It was as big as a small lion.”
The operation to capture the cat was orchestrated by Mohammad Yar and Saleem Shaukat.
They told The Tribune that the losses had become unbearable and fear had spread in all neighbouring villages. They said that they had gathered a number of chicken and goats in Imtiaz’s poultry farm. “When the wild cat entered, we shut her in. Around 20 men entered and caught her with great difficulty.”
Aashir, another villager, said, “People had started calling it ‘dracula.’ It was after every living thing in our village.”
After its death on Saturday, villagers gave it a funeral and buried it in the village ground.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2012.