(Representative image)

RAJKOT/ AHMEDABAD: In an unusual behaviour , a pride of five or more lions went on a killing spree in a village of Amreli district , mauling as many as 15 cows within just 45 minutes.

Panic spread in Juni Vag haniya village near Bagasara town on Monday night as lions attacked cows and calves one after another in Bhaktidham gau shala run by some locals.

The gau shala is managed by Ramdev Pir temple and there are nearly 300 cows and calves there.

“We suspect there were at least five lions. They somehow entered the gau shala at around 8.30pm and went on a killing spree till around 9.15pm,“ said Kalu Rupareliya , a resident of the village. Villagers have spotted a lion, lioness and her three cubs moving around since a few months. Wildlife experts say such abnormal behaviour of lions is usually triggered when other animals they are targeting get panicked due to the attack. “When cattle confined in a limited space panic and start running helter-skelter, lions too display such abnormally aggressive behaviour as they also feel threatened,“ said Divya Bhanu Singh Chavda, former member of National Board for Wild Life. H S Singh, former chief conservator of forests (CCF), said in the past they have even recorded deaths of 32 cattle in an attack by a pride.

“Such lion behaviour is usually seen in confined areas,“ he said.

