Kiran Baiga, the mother who chased a leopard to save her son
When a leopard seized her young son near Sanjay Tiger Reserve, Kiran Baiga ran after it into the forest with a stick, for about a kilometre, and won.
Baiga Adivasi mother · Badi Jharia, Sidhi, Madhya Pradesh
On a cold Sunday night in late November 2021, Kiran Baiga was sitting by a fire outside her hut in Badi Jharia village, Madhya Pradesh, keeping her three children warm. A leopard came out of the dark, seized one of her sons and ran into the forest, according to forest officials quoted by the Press Trust of India and reported by Deccan Herald.
What she did next made headlines around the world. She pushed her other two children inside the hut, shut them in, and ran after the leopard.
What Kiran did
Kiran, from the Baiga Adivasi community, followed the animal for about a kilometre into the forest, officials said. The leopard took cover in the bushes, holding the boy in its claws. She kept trying to scare it off with a stick and shouted for help. The leopard let go of her son and turned on her, a senior forest official told PTI, but “she overpowered the big cat with her valour”. As villagers who had heard her cries arrived, the leopard fled.
“The lady was sitting in her hut with her children when the leopard came,” Y P Singh, field director of the Sanjay-Dubri National Park and Tiger Reserve, told CNN. He said Kiran stayed calm after the shock. “The leopard probably got scared and left the child,” he told PTI.
Both mother and son were hurt. PTI reported injuries to the boy’s back, cheeks and eyes, and said Kiran was also wounded. Reports differ on his age, and IPB is not naming him. CNN reported that he was treated in hospital and had recovered.
Who it helped
First, her son, who came home alive. Buffer zone ranger Aseem Bhuria took mother and son to a primary health centre, gave the family ₹1,000 in immediate help, and the forest department said it would pay for all their treatment, EastMojo reported.
Her story also drew attention to the families who live alongside wild animals. Badi Jharia lies in the buffer zone of the Sanjay Tiger Reserve in Sidhi district, more than 500 km from Bhopal. The reserve has 32 mammal species, including leopards, and its buffer zone, where people live, is not fenced, CNN reported. “A leopard does not care about what is the core or the buffer zone, there is no fixed boundary for them,” Singh said. Only collared animals can be tracked.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan praised her on Twitter. “This courage to face death is a striking form of motherliness,” he wrote, in CNN’s translation.
IPB News first reported the story in December 2021: MP’s woman rescued her son from the leopard attack.
How you can help
- If you live near a forest, report leopard sightings close to homes to the local forest range office, so staff can keep watch on the area.
- If a wild animal injures someone, go to the nearest health centre and inform the forest department. In Kiran’s case, the department paid for treatment.
- Share your forest range office’s phone number with neighbours, so help is one call away.
This profile is based on published reports. Know Kiran or her family? Write to editor@indiapeopleblog.com.
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Sources: Deccan Herald (PTI), 1 December 2021 · EastMojo (PTI), 1 December 2021 · CNN (via ABC17), 3 December 2021 · IPB News, 2 December 2021
