Gadap's locals panicked after bizarre attack on farm animals

• Grisly attacks fuels fear among the town's residents, leaving them scared and scrambling for help.
• Attack on farm animals occurred in Goth Gajan Baloch, some 50km northwest of Karachi.
• Upon being alerted by The News, Sindh Wildlife Department dispatched a team to investigate the incident.

KARACHI: Locals of Gadap Town — some 50 kilometres northwest of the port city — were left panicking and scrambling for help after a bizarre attack on farm animals left at least five goats dead.

The unknown wild creature attacked animals at a farm in Gadap in the dark of night, killing at least five goats.

Major panic has gripped the area surrounding the farm that was attacked, with locals saying new housing schemes that have popped up around Gadap, as well as the 136-km superhighway between Karachi and Hyderabad — M-9 Motorway — has affected the wildlife habitat.

The hungry predators, therefore, often attack farm animals left tied to barns and sheds around at night, they added. The presence of a dangerous wild animal has led to heightened fear in the area.

According to locals, the wild animal managed to kill all five goats in Goth Gajan Baloch — an hour's drive away from Karachi — in one night.

Upon being alerted by The News, the Sindh Wildlife Department dispatched a team to investigate the incident.

The in-charge of the Sindh Wildlife Department's raid team, Azeem Khan Achlo, told The News that the "footprints seemed to be of a wild cat", which may possibly be coming down from the mountains around Gadap to hunt.

A team would now monitor the area, Achlo said, adding that since the wild cat was possibly attacking animals out of hunger, meat would be kept in the mountains for their consumption.

—COVER IMAGE: Richard Griffiths