Alerted in the middle of the night to a dahalo attack, gendarmes from the Antanambao Ambary advanced post responded without delay. Their swift action, supported by local residents, successfully thwarted an attempted zebu theft. Around 2 a.m. on the night of Tuesday, July 7, the fokontany chief of Tsarafaritra, a rural commune in Antanambao Ambary district, Mandoto, alerted the gendarmerie post commander of an ongoing zebu theft attempt. The post commander, accompanied by three gendarmes, immediately proceeded to the scene. With residents' support, the soldiers quickly pursued the attackers. The intervention prevented the theft: none of the targeted zebus were taken. During the confrontation, a 33-year-old man, son of the herd owner, was seriously wounded by gunfire to the hand while attempting to stop the thieves. He was urgently evacuated to Antsirabe for medical treatment. The operation resulted in the neutralization of one dahalo, fatally struck on site, while his accomplices managed to escape. The identity of the neutralized criminal had not been established at the time of writing. The Antanambao Ambary gendarmerie post continues investigations to identify and apprehend the remaining gang members still at large.