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Leopard mauls infant at zoo

by Ranil Wijayapala

A sixteen-month old infant sustained facial injuries when a leopard at the Dehiwela zoo attacked her through the iron railings of its cage.

The baby girl was watching the leopard with her father at the zoo last afternoon.

The leopard has grabbed the infant's head as she was leaning towards the cage, Police sources said.

The infant was rushed to the Colombo South teaching hospital around 2.30 pm.

She had undergone a three and half hour surgery for injuries to her lips and scull.

"Parts of her brain had also come out as her scull was also damaged by the leopard's nails. Fortunately, there is no internal damage to her brain," Colombo South Teaching Hospital Director Dr. Gunawardene told the Daily News last night.

"Despite the coma she is now all right after her surgery. She is out of danger," Dr. Gunawardene added.

The zoo authorities advise visitors not to lean into cages and to refrain from feeding animals to avoid such incidents.

However, these warning are completely ignored by some, resulting in such unfortunate incidents, officials of the Dehiwala Zoological Garden said.

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