Shocking footage has emerged of a wild leopard going on an unprovoked rampage through a northeastern Indian town, injuring at least 13 people.
The clip circulating on social media Tuesday shows the big cat leaping over a barbed wire fence before latching onto a passing van in Jorhat.
The animal manages to tear some trim off the outside of the vehicle before scampering back down the road.
The leopard attacked at least 13 people, including a forest guard and mother and her two daughters, before escaping into the brush, News18 reported.
“Some residents had a close shave as the leopard was roaming in their courtyards,” Ranjit Konwar, a divisional forest officer in Jorhat, told the Telegraph.
“Many of the injured were bitten and needed hospitalisation but they seem to be out of danger now.”
The animal was tranquillised last Thursday following a two-day search. It will undergo further examination before being released into Kaziranga National Park.
Leopards typically do not attack humans without provocation, officials explained to the Telegraph. While it is unknown what precipitated the Jorhat rampage, it is believed that the animal escaped the nearby Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in search of food.
Big cat attacks have unfortunately become more common in India, as the growing population and need for housing and infrastructure encroaches on forested areas.
In early November, two similar clips went viral of a leopard tackling a motorcyclist in the southern town of Krishnarajanagara before being subdued by a group of villagers.
In 2021 alone, 500 people and 100 elephants were killed in human-animal conflicts. India’s Minister of Environment Bhupendra Yadav blamed the fatalities on “competition for resources”.
This article was originally published by the New York Post and reproduced with permission