Injures one while another narrowly escapes

Wildlife: The 10-year-old boy gored by a Gaur on Saturday was referred to a hospital in Siliguri yesterday.

The boy was gored when playing outside his house at a doma plantation in Samtse when the Gaur, locally called as Relang, chased from the Indian tea estate ran rage in Samtse. Two Gaurs were spotted on the Indian side and one was chased towards Samtse.

Eyewitnesses said the Relang was spotted as early as 6am. Lost and scared, the Relang was running wildly said an eyewitness, Karma Dorji. “Everybody was climbing trees while also wanting to get a glimpse of the beast,” he said.

A special rescue team was called from Thimphu around 10:30am, but because of the distance, the team led by the head of Wildlife Rescue and Animal Health Section at Taba, reached Samtse only after dark.

Head of the section Kuenzang Gyeltshen said the Gaur was disturbed by the traffic and the commotion and didn’t know how to go back. “We couldn’t tranquilize because it was already dark,” he said.

Had it not been for the boundary wall, it would have entered the town, said Karma Dorji.

A team of army, police and forestry officials led by the dzongdag then guarded the several entry points to prevent the Gaur from coming in to Samtse town. They were divided in six groups and guarded until 11pm.

Kuenzang Gyeltshen said around 2am he received information that the Gaur has left towards India. “The traffic has subsided and the Gaur found its way back,” he said. “We followed its hoof print and confirmed it had left.”

Kuenzang Gyeltshen said the cases of wild animals coming into contact with people are increasing in the country. From deer and bear entering houses to Sambar deer appearing in the city, the section has recorded about 10 cases in 2015.

Yesterday two Sambar deer were rescued from Chamgang and a fawn from Taba in Thimphu. Kuenzang Gyeltshen said the number is increasing because humans are either encroaching or disturbing the wild. “At this time of the year, wild animals in search of food come to orchards and are then chased by dogs towards settlement,” he said.

The number could be increasing because of the improved reporting of animal in need of rescue, said Kuenzang Gyeltshen.

Ugyen Penjore 

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