A leopard came out of the forest and entered a house in Mandla on Friday morning. A 65-year-old woman, Gidiya Bai Ahirwar, safely came out of the house after spotting the animal and alerted her neighbours.
The forest department rescued the leopard after a five-hour operation by tranquilising it. The incident took place at around 7.30 am in Khatola village, near the Sijhora buffer zone of Kanha Tiger Reserve.
Gidiya Bai said she was working in the courtyard when she heard an animal enter the house. At first, she thought it was a dog. When she looked inside, she saw a leopard and quietly closed the door from the outside without making any noise.
See, 7 pictures of the rescue
As soon as the information was received, the forest department team reached the village
The team tranquillized the leopard sleeping under the bed
The forest department team tranquillized the leopard and brought it out of the house
The team medically checked the leopard and gave first aid
The unconscious leopard was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to the vehicle
The unconscious leopard has been taken to the quarantine center
A crowd of villagers gathered during the 5-hour rescue operation
Leopard taken to mukki quarantine center
To rescue the leopard, Ranger Abhishek Dubey, wildlife veterinarian Dr. Sandeep Agarwal, Assistant Director of Sijhora Buffer Ashish Pandey, Field Director Ravindra Mani Tripathi, and Deputy Director Amita KB arrived with a 30-member team. Bichhiya police were also deployed to control the crowd.
The team first traced the exact location of the leopard inside the house. After clearing the way, it was tranquillised. The unconscious leopard was brought out and given first aid. This entire process took about two and a half hours, after which the leopard was sent to the Mukki Quarantine Centre in a special vehicle.
