Video Shows Shocking Encounter Between 12-Year-Old and Leopard
Quick thinking may have saved the life of a 12-year-old boy who had a chance encounter with a leopard that wandered into a building in Nashik, India.
ABC 7 News in Los Angeles obtained security footage from what was reportedly a wedding hall in Nashik, a city located about 100 miles northeast of Mumbai. In the video, the boy can be seen sitting on a couch in an office, playing what appears to be a video game on a smartphone device, when the leopard "just walked in off the street" and sauntered right by him.
The boy quickly and calmly got up from the couch, turned, and shut the door behind him, effectively trapping the apex predator in the room.
Authorities later said that the five-year-old male leopard was tranquilized and safely removed, as about a half dozen men can be seen leading it out with the aid of animal control release sticks.
Leopards are classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as global populations have been threatened by poaching for illegal wildlife trade, and habitat loss and fragmentation. The species tend to be solitary and territorial animals, and are generally shy and alert when crossing roadways and encountering oncoming vehicles.
When threatened, leopards may be emboldened to attack and have been known to kill people. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, one of the most infamous incidents of a leopard killing humans involved the "Leopard of the Central Provinces" in India in the early 1900s. Nearly 150 people, all women and children, were killed before the creature was eventually shot dead.
It's unclear what the leopard in this situation may have done had it noticed the boy, but suffice to say he's lucky to have escaped unharmed.