Leopard on the loose injures 15 and goes on the prowl in alarming viral video

Jorhat, India - A leopard injured at least 15 people in an Indian city as it was caught on camera leaping over fences and cars while on the prowl.

A leopard injured at least 15 people near Jorhat, India, in an attack earlier this week (stock image).
A leopard injured at least 15 people near Jorhat, India, in an attack earlier this week (stock image).  © TAUSEEF MUSTAFA / AFP

Leaping leopards?

The animal was likely foraging for food near the town of Jorhat in Assam, India, at the time of the attacks, which injured at least 15 people in a two-day rampage that began on Monday.

Most of the injured victims are from the nearby Rain Forest Research Institute, an official told the Times of India on Tuesday. Many were taken to a were taken from the campus to a hospital with bite wounds, a hospital spokesman told local media.

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In an alarming video shared by the Indian news agency ANI, the predator is seen jumping over a fence and then clinging onto a car, prowling with incredible ease and speed.

The animal was later tranquilized and captured on Tuesday, Wildlife Trust of India chief Rathin Barman told the New Indian Express, after which several fractures were discovered in one of the animal's legs.

The injuries were treated and were presumably caused by humans attacking the animal. Barman suspected that the predator was also behaving aggressively for this reason.

The leopard will reportedly be under examination before being released into the wild in Kaziranga National Park.

In India, conflicts between humans and wild animals such as leopards and tigers, which often live freely in forests, occur time and again.

With deforestation, human settlements sometimes move very close to the habitat of the predators, which can lead to them attacking people or their livestock - and people then hunting the animals in retaliation.

Cover photo: TAUSEEF MUSTAFA / AFP

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