Ugandan authorities are hunting for a leopard in Queen Elizabeth National park after it snatched and ate a ranger's three-year-old son. The toddler had been left in the care of a nanny at the unfenced staff quarters of a safari lodge in the park, when he was taken by the leopard on Friday night. Wildlife authority spokesman Bashir Hangi said the child had followed the nanny outdoors. "The maid was not aware the child followed her. She heard the kid scream for help, she intervened but it was too late the leopard had vanished with it in the bush and a search was mounted until we got the skull the next day," he said. "The hunt is on with the intention of capturing the leopard and removing it from the wild because once it has eaten human flesh, the temptations are high to eat another human being, it becomes dangerous," he added. The sun sets over Lake George near Uganda's Queen Elizabeth National Park in western Uganda, Queen Elizabeth is Uganda's most-visited national park, with tourists flocking to watch leopards roam the Mweya Peninsula, which lies beside Lake Edward. The park also hosts African buffalo, Nile crocodile, lions and chimpanzees. The attack comes just a week after a British safari park owner was attacked by a lion in South Africa. Mike Hodge, 71, suffered a broken jaw after he was mauled in Marakele Animal Sanctuary in Thabazimbi. Mr Hodge had been showing visitors around the park when the big cat charged him and dragged him into some bushes. Video footage of the incident showed terrified tourists screaming for help as the lion mauled its victim. Keepers eventually killed the 10-year-old lion, named Samba, and Mr Hodge was taken to hospital. Two years ago, in South Africa, a year a six-year-old boy was snatched by a leopard at Kruger National park, but the youngster escaped with his life. Kellan Denny was playing with his brother on a wall when the leopard sunk its teeth into his shoulder and dragged him away. Big Cats Worldwide However, the leopard let go of the traumatised boy, allowing his father to rush in and carry him to safety. The incident was the first of its kind in 40 years, according to a spokesman for Kruger National Park.
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May 07, 2018 at 07:37PM
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