Grandmother survives 'fight to the death' with leopard

A grandmother from a rural village in northern India has survived a leopard attack after defending herself with farm tools.

Kamla Negi, the 56-year old rice farmer from the state of Uttarakhand was returning from collecting water when she was attacked by the wild animal. "It pounced on me suddenly from the front," Negi told the Wall Street Journal. "Its claws and teeth were on my throat. I could hear it breathing."

She used the sickle she has been carrying to attack the leopard and managed to break some of its teeth as it was biting her.

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After almost half an hour of struggling, the leopard fled into the forest and was later found dead by villagers. "I thought I was dead but I did not lose patience and courage," she said, according to the BBC.

The female leopard was only three and a half years old and less than two metres long, but managed to cause significant injuries to Negi, including several broken bones and deep bites and scratches. Doctors were surprised she survived, and she is believed to still be in hospital recovering.

"She is very brave," said Pankaj Bist, one of villagers who helped take her to hospital. "She attacked the leopard and took the fight head on."

A loss of habitat as has caused leopards to venture in Indian town and cities, leading to deadly interactions with humans. Villagers in India's Uttar Pradesh state say they live "in constant fear because of regular leopard attacks", the BBC reports. One man said his young daughter was killed by a leopard and now he does not let his children leave the house.