Social media is rife with videos of children, women and aged people being attacked by stray dogs. Humans have various means to ward off such attacks by throwing stones, using sticks or simply intimidating the dog by collecting together. But what do ground-nesting birds do when dogs set upon their flightless chicks — they have no such means or weapons at their disposal except parental fidelity, guile and courage.Lapwings executing diversionary actions to save their chick from a stray dog at Sukhna lake. (Dr Rajiv Narwal)On May 24, 2026, a grim asymmetric battle was waged by a pair of red-wattled lapwings to defend their chick against a marauding dog at the Sukhna lake’s shores. The incident was witnessed and captured vividly on camera by Dr Rajiv Narwal, who holds charge of the Kalka sub-divisional civil hospital and is a passionate wildlife photographer.The lapwing family displayed coordination in their defence, the raw courage of parents and an unwillingness to retreat from the dog’s repeated attacks and effort to locate the chick cowering between the stones of the lake’s embankment that slopes to the water. One can only imagine — with a sense of horror and empathy — what the lapwing family went through in those life-and-death moments. Being a parent, too, one shudders at the thought of children suffering similar attacks. It assaults the very fabric of the human parental soul, as expressed in Punjabi: “Maa-baap de dard naal kaleja phat jaanda hai”.Narwal’s description of the incident is as precise as his photo-documentation — a sharp reflection of the increasing conflict between dwindling wild species and an increasing stray dog population sponsored by irresponsible/illegal human feeding, inept garbage disposal, anaemic sterilisation programmes, organised, well-heeled dog advocacy lobbies and legal protections.“A black dog suddenly entered the open stony area where the chick was moving along the water’s edge. The moment the mother lapwing sensed danger, she emitted shrill distress calls alerting the chick as well as her spouse. The tiny newborn reacted instinctively within a few seconds. The chick squeezed itself between two small stones, crouching completely flat and motionless. Its natural appearance blended with the surroundings and became nearly impossible to spot,” Narwal told this writer.“The dog made repeated attempts to approach the area and attacked four to five times in its bid to locate the movement of the chick. During every attempt, the parent lapwings displayed extraordinary courage and coordination. They repeatedly swooped low over the dog’s head making rapid aerial dives and loud alarm calls to distract and confuse the predator. There was variation and tactical brilliance in the offensive-defensive manoeuvre of the parents. One parent would deliberately come very close to the dog and crouch as if inviting pursuit and attack while the other parent kept watch over the hiding chick. Just as the dog would snap its jaws at the tempting bird virtually under its nose, the bird would fly off,” said Narwal.Despite the risk to their own lives, the lapwing parents persisted with their counter-actions for several minutes. The chick remained disciplined throughout, neither moving nor making any sound and obediently following the survival/evasion signals given by the embattled parents.“After repeated failures and continuous harassment by the aggressive aerial dives, the frustrated dog abandoned the chase and slowly moved away from the lapwing area. Only after the surroundings became safe did the chick cautiously emerge from the stones and unite with the parents,” Narwal said.vjswild2@gmail.com