Agra: In a shocking incident, a full-grown leopard was seen roaming on the street, right in the heart of Etmauddaula in Agra. The leopard was successfully rescued in a 2-hour-long daring operation by Wildlife SOS and the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department.

On Tuesday morning, residents of Sitanagar in the Etmauddaula area, located five km from the Taj Mahal, were left fearing for their lives after they spotted a leopard roaming in the neighborhood!

CCTV footage installed in the street captured the big cat running out of a house and wandering frantically across the narrow, crowded streets. The leopard eventually made its way into a small fruit storage room and the locals managed to lock the animal inside.

The incident was immediately reported to the Forest Department and Agra-based NGO Wildlife SOS. Equipping themselves with safety nets, a trap cage, and protective gear to carry out the rescue mission, a nine-member team from Wildlife SOS immediately rushed to the location accompanied by a team of forest officers.

By the time they arrived, over 200 people had gathered outside the storeroom to witness the rare occurrence. The rescuers drilled a hole in the wall to tranquilize the leopard without opening the door and they inserted a camera through the hole to locate the leopard.

The forest officers and police personnel implemented crowd control measures while Wildlife SOS veterinary doctor Dr. S.Ilayaraja immobilized the leopard using a sedative injection through the hole. The leopard was carefully transferred to a transit facility for temporary observation.

Dr. Ilayaraja, Deputy Director of Veterinary Services at Wildlife SOS said “The leopard is a male, between 7 to 8 years old. Such rescue operations are highly sensitive and need careful planning in order to ensure the safety of the animal as well as of the people. With a huge crowd of over two hundred people gathered around, the rescue was extremely challenging.”

Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder & CEO of Wildlife SOS said, “The depletion of natural prey base and habitat due to encroachment and deforestation is forcing wild animals like leopards to seek out easily available prey such as poultry and livestock in human settlements. This often leads to human-leopard conflict which can have violent and brutal consequences for both humans and wildlife. We are grateful to the forest department and the police for making this rescue a success.”

Akhilesh Pande, Divisional Forest Officer, Agra said, “This is a densely populated area so the leopard sighting caused a wave of panic among the residents. After deploying our team to assess the situation, we contacted Wildlife SOS for their assistance in the rescue operation. We were able to provide an effective and timely intervention with their help. ”

Last year, Wildlife SOS assisted the Forest Department in the safe rescue and release of an adult leopard that was wandering across Govardhan City, Mathura.