Golden Jackal attacks nine-year-old boy in Trombay

A Golden Jackal had entered the residential area from nearby mangroves in Trombay. Representation pic

A golden Jackal that had wandered off the forest area and entered a residential area last week had bitten a nine-year-old boy in Trombay. According to the eyewitnesses, the incident occurred on the evening of November 14, at around 4.30 pm, when the jackal suddenly appeared from behind and bit Mohammad Ayan Mastan Shaikh on his thigh.

Barkat Nisha Shaikh, the boy's mother, said, "My son was playing outside in our neighborhood when a neighbor came to our house and informed us that he had been bitten by a dog. We rushed to the location, where a girl explained that it wasn't a dog but a jackal. We then quickly took my son to the BMC-run Shatabdi Hospital. So far, he has received three injections, including an anti-rabies shot, and will be given one more injection on December 11."

Speaking with mid-day, she said that she did not believe at first that it was a jackal. Honorary Wildlife Warden of Thane and NGO RAWW President Pawan Sharma confirmed the incident and said that a Golden Jackal had entered the residential area from nearby mangroves in Trombay and had bitten a child last week. He said that the forest department has since been searching for the animal.

Sharma said, "Soon a team of 15 members from the Mumbai Range of the Forest Department and RAWW reached Pailipada-Trombay, where the jackal was sighted, with a wildlife ambulance and equipment to initiate a combing and search operation to capture the animal, which could not be found." Locals have been made aware of the situation and provided with all necessary information and helpline numbers, he added.

On October 28, mid-day did a story - ‘Forest dept to investigate the rise in jackal deaths in Chembur' - which highlighted how, in a concerning series of events, five jackals had died in the Trombay-Chembur belt over the past month, prompting investigations by the forest department. While the reason behind their deaths is unknown, sources from the forest department told mid-day that the sick jackals that were rescued showed behaviours indicative of a potential rabies infection.

On October 30, mid-day carried another story - Mumbai: Rabies may be cause of jackal deaths - in which it was stated that the jackal that died recently in Mumbai tested positive for rabies infection, making this incident probably the first case of a rabies-infected death of wildlife in Mumbai.