Leopard Enters Girls' Hostel, Residents Mistake It For Piece Of Cloth

A leopard strayed into a girls' hostel in Guwahati on Monday, triggering panic among the hostel residents, officials said.

Mousumi Bora who owns the hostel, located in Hengerabari, said she had mistaken the leopard that was trapped under a sofa for a piece of cloth and was about to pick it up when she realised it was a wild animal. Soon after that she and the other 15 inmates living in the hostel locked themselves in a room, and informed forest officials, Bora said.

Officials of the Assam State Zoo, Wildlife Division and Territorial Division along with the police soon arrived with a tranquiliser gun. It took them more than four hours to tranquilise the leopard, officials said.

When the leopard was hit with the tranquiliser shot, it ran into a nearby house, causing panic in the area, officials added.

Forest officials then rescued the tranquilised animal, put it in a cage and took it to the Assam State Zoo, Tejas Mariswamy, divisional forest officer said. “The leopard will be kept in the zoo, till it regains consciousness. Then it will be examined for injuries and a microchip will be inserted before it is released in the forest,” Mariswamy said.

Meanwhile, Assam forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya lauded the zoo authorities for quick action. "Another successful operation today as we safely rescued an Indian leopard which took shelter in a hostel in Hengrabari, Guwahati. The success can be attributed to the timely intervention of our Assam State Zoo, Wildlife Division and Territorial Division staff and police team,” Suklabaidya tweeted.