An Indian woman defended her son from a tiger’s claws on Wednesday, using just her bare hands, an official reported.
The courageous mother, Archana Choudhary, let her 15-month-old son out to relieve himself on Sunday night in Madhya Pradesh State, in central India.
Local officer Sanjeev Shrivastava told AFP that a tiger thought to have strayed from the adjacent Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve pounced on them.
He said that the mother sprang to the child’s rescue as the tiger attacked and attempted to bite into the child’s skull.
The villagers who heard her screaming at the top of her voice, raced to her aid as the tiger continued its attempt to tear up the child.
The tiger then snuck into the thick forest.
“She has been admitted to the hospital. She is out of danger and recovering. The baby is also doing fine,” Shrivastava said.
While her child had severe head injuries, Archana (the mother) sustained abdominal injuries and pierced lungs.
According to the Times of India, residents have been instructed to stay indoors at night, while a hunt operation is being conducted to drive the tiger back to its region.
Human-animal conflicts have grown in severity throughout South Asia as more forest is lost to urban growth.
In India, tiger attacks claimed the lives of close to 225 people between 2014 and 2019.
Also, between 2012 and 2018, more than 200 tigers died from poaching and electrocution.
In 2018, it was estimated that there were 2,967 tigers in India, which is home to over 70% of the tigers in the world.
