A four-year old male leopard was rescued from a house in Parner in Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, in a three-hour operation on Saturday night by the Maharashtra forest department and wildlife veterinarians.
Around 6.30 pm Saturday, Dileep Jagtap, 45, sat on his porch when suddenly his pet dog rushed into the house. To his shock, his dog was followed by a leopard.
“I started panicking but had to think straight to save my family,” he said. “While my dog rushed out the back door, the leopard got stuck in one of the rooms. I managed to get my wife, daughters and two other relatives (six people in all including Jagtap) out of the house, and locked the door.”
Jagtap informed the forest department by 8pm. Along with Ahmednagar and Junner forest officials; a three-member team from Wildlife SOS Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre rushed to the site and rescued the leopard by 11.30 pm.
Two videos of the incident also made their way online. In one video, the leopard is partially visible. It’s seen sitting in front of a door which appears to connect two adjoining rooms.
{{/usCountry}}Two videos of the incident also made their way online. In one video, the leopard is partially visible. It’s seen sitting in front of a door which appears to connect two adjoining rooms.
{{/usCountry}}The other video captures the animal cornered behind a pile of things.
With close to 700 onlookers surrounding the house, the rescue team cordoned off the place using safety nets to ensure the animal does not escape.
Senior veterinarian Dr. Ajay Deshmukh tranquilised the leopard from an open window while the animal sat atop a cupboard.
“While no one was injured, the leopard was rushed to a local nursery for a health examination. The animal was deemed fit and released back in the wild soon after. It was a difficult rescue operation with a large crowd surrounding the house,” said Deshmukh.
What do you think of this fascinatingly scary incident?