A cow was attacked by a crocodile when it went to drink from the Shela river in the Sundarbans at Mongla. The crocodile bit and wounded the cow's hind thigh and two legs. The Forest Department later rescued the cow and handed it to its owner.

The incident happened around 5pm on Sunday (24 July) in the Shela river next to the Chandpai forest launch ghat in the Joymoni area of Chila union in the upazila.

Md Mizanur Rahman, a boatman at the Chandpai range office of the East Sundarbans division, confirmed the matter.

Forest officials and eyewitnesses said a cow went down to the bank of the Shela river in the afternoon to drink. A large crocodile there attacked it, seized its right hind thigh in its jaws and started pulling. The cow struggled upwards to free itself, and as it pulled, the crocodile was dragged halfway up the bank.

Hearing the struggle between the crocodile and the cow and the cow's cries, people at the launch ghat rushed over. Chased off by the people and the noise, the crocodile let go of the cow and went back into the river. The cow was then rescued and given to its owner.

Boatman Mizanur Rahman said that on hearing a crocodile had caught a cow, station boatman Sultan Mahmud and forest guard Asim Kumar went and rescued it. It was handed to the owner on the instructions of higher authorities, and was taken to a veterinary hospital for treatment.

The owner, Shyamal Majumder of Nagerpukur Par in the Joymoni area, said the crocodile attack had seriously wounded the cow's hind thigh, two legs and veins. The flesh was crushed by bites in several places on the thigh and legs.

He said the cow is five months pregnant.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.