While in the state capital Shimla, one hears of increasing dog and monkey bites, people in the area bordering Pong wetland in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh are fearful of Mongoose bites.

The Mongeese in the area have bitten several humans and domestic animals, mainly cattle, in past few months.

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Some deaths of animals, especially cows, have since been reported in the Jagnoli and adjoining Hadwal Panchayats.

In one of the incidents, more than 10 cattle in one shed were bitten reportedly by a mongoose and all of them had to be given vaccination later, according to locals.

“We have never seen the Mongeese getting aggressive like this. They move around in the forest area and bushes in the extended belt of Pong wetland and feed on the earthworms in the heaps of cow dungs in villages. Surprisingly, for the past sometime, they have been barging into the houses of the people and the animal sheds and are biting them,” said Pradhan of Jagnoli area, Sharda Devi.

They said it is serious as not only the human lives are at risk, the animals too need to be prevented from Mongeese as the economy of the people is dependent on cattle.

A team from the animal husbandry department had visited the area to look into the issue at the instance of the Panchayati Raj Institution representatives, following which the affected animals are now being administered free anti-Rabies vaccination.

Bites of wild animals like Mongoose, jackal, wolf and fox can supposedly cause Rabies if the victims (who are bitten, humans or animals) and their mixing with the human habitations can often be dangerous.

In this case a few Mongeese were reportedly killed by the locals in self defence.

The veterinary experts said there was a need to study the phenomenon of Mongeese going mad in a particular area. “The domestic animals in the affected area should be administered preventive vaccination free of cost to save them from the risk of Rabies,” said an official with the department.

They said the forest department should get the Mongeese in the area examined for Rabies virus and formulate a strategy accordingly to save people and animals. The wild life officials at Nurpur, however, had no information on the issue.

It is pertinent to mention that the mixing of wild animals, even leopards, in human localities is a common sight in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh as there are forests all around.

Rather, with humans now encroaching on natural habitats of wild animals, the human-wild animal conflict has increased manifold in Himachal Pradesh, with cases of even leopard (who easily stray into villages and towns in search of food) attacks on humans on the rise. The forest department has not been able to do much in this regard so far.