Tuesday, 29 July 2008

Three curious Cambodians gored by rare wild gaur

TopNews.in
July 28th, 2008
by Sahil Nagpal

Phnom Penh - A rare wild gaur seriously gored a Cambodian fisherman, then injured two bystanders who had come to see what the fuss was about, before dropping dead, police said Monday.

Hin Sarun, the deputy police chief of Svay Chet district in Banteay Meanchey province on the north-western Thai border, said the rare but angry bovine emerged from scrub on Saturday and menaced a group of fishermen before seriously wounding angler Cheng Chat, 25.

"Because this animal is unusual, around 400 more villagers came to look at it when they heard about the attack, and it went crazy again and hospitalized two more people," Sarun said by telephone.

He said Niv Non, 40, and Vuon Huot, 32, were also recovering in hospital after their encounter with the rare raging bull, which witnesses said had horns 60 centimetres long.

The largest of the bovine species and weighing up to a ton, the gaur - a type of wild cattle - is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Threatened Species Red List.

"I had never seen one in my lifetime before this," Sarun said. "We don't know what it was doing or why it came."

The beast promptly dropped dead of exhaustion after its rampage and was suspected to have become dinner, police said.

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