Seven people were injured after a leopard entered a densely populated area in Maharashtra's Nagpur city on Wednesday morning and attacked the residents.
The forest department received a call about the big cat being spotted in Shiv Nagar in the Pardi area, causing panic among the locals.
"At around 7:30 am, the Forest Department received information that a leopard had entered a residential house, injuring 1-2 people. Immediately, the Conservator of Forests (CF) and Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) instructed the Range Forest Officer (RFO) to send our transit treatment centre team," news agency ANI quoted Ajinkya Bhatkar, Honorary Wildlife Warden, as saying.
Bhatkar added that the rescue operation started at around 9:30 am and was completed within an hour. The leopard was later tranquilized and sent to the transit treatment centre.
In a video, the 3-year-old male leopard is seen struggling to haul itself onto a rooftop of a building in the residential society. The big cat is seen dangling precariously from the edge for several seconds, claws scraping against the parapet, before finally managing to pull itself up. People gathered on neighbouring rooftops and balconies as the leopard prowled across the terraces.
#WATCH | Nagpur, Maharashtra: A leopard entered the residential area of Pardi locality, injuring 7 people. pic.twitter.com/TUGdBrr6oL
— ANI (@ANI) December 10, 2025
The injured persons were shifted to the hospital for treatment.
What The Forest Minister Said
After the leopard was rescued, Maharashtra Forest Minister Ganesh Naik assured that all victims were out of danger. He said that the Forest Department will alert residents if any leopard enters the residential area.
"I met 7 patients, and all are out of danger, and I hope such incidents will not happen again in the future. That's why we will try to limit leopards within the jungle area. If any leopard accidentally enters residential areas, our forest department will alert residents. We have made arrangements for this," news agency ANI quoted Naik as saying.
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Speaking on whether the permission has been obtained for sterilisation amid the increasing population of leopards in Maharashtra, Naik said that it has been granted on a small scale. They will observe the progress for the first six months, and based on that, the Forest Department will seek approval from the Centre to expand the programme.
The Forest Department has also deployed AI-driven sirens to alert citizens whenever a leopard, or even its shadow, is detected.
"We are also trying to plant trees that those animals feed on, which are themselves prey for leopards, so that leopards are less likely to leave the jungles in search of food. We have also deployed AI-driven sirens that activate whenever a leopard, or even its shadow, is detected," Naik added.
Leopard Attacks On Rise In Maharashtra
Over the past few months, leopard sightings in Pune, Nashik, and other districts of Maharashtra have risen sharply.
Earlier, on November 19, a leopard was rescued from the same area in Nagpur.
On Tuesday, five people, including three members of a rescue team, were injured after a leopard attacked them in Nagaon, a popular beach village in Raigad district, on Tuesday, police said.
Last week, a four-and-a-half-year-old boy was attacked by a leopard while he was playing near his house in the Nimgav area of Khed Tehsil in Pune. The leopard reportedly grabbed the child by the neck and dragged him for a few metres before locals intervened.
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