A leopard that entered a private hospital in Kawardha, Chhattisgarh, injured a woman and took refuge in a washroom was tranquilised and rescued after a five-hour operation on Monday, as forest and police teams secured the premises and urged residents to stay indoors.
The animal entered the hospital in the busy Kotwali area of Kawardha town after reportedly being spotted near Rewabandh pond and the adjoining gaushala belt. CCTV footage showed it coming down a staircase into the hospital’s parking area before moving through the premises.
The leopard attacked Yashoda Bai as she was walking towards the washroom. She had come to the hospital for the treatment of her son. Kawardha divisional forest officer Nikhil Agrawal said she suffered a paw injury and was stable.
Forest and police personnel quickly cordoned off the hospital as a crowd gathered outside. Officials asked people to keep away from the area, warning that crowding could provoke the animal and make the rescue more difficult. Residents in nearby areas were advised to remain indoors and keep their doors and windows shut.
The leopard was eventually confined to the women’s washroom, preventing it from moving further through the hospital. Forest personnel maintained a watch while a specialised rescue team from Bilaspur, equipped to tranquilise the animal, was brought in. Nets and other equipment were deployed as teams worked to prevent the animal from reaching a crowded section of the hospital.
After about five hours, the forest team tranquilised the leopard and rescued it from the washroom. Officials have not established how it reached the town. The incident nevertheless follows reports from local residents that leopards have been seen several times within the town range over the past 15 days.
A leopard was recently tranquilised in Jaitpuri village, around six kilometres from Kawardha, and released in the Bhoramdeo forests. Officials estimate that the Bhoramdeo forest region has around 80 leopards. The latest incident also came less than 24 hours after another leopard entered a house in Mahasamund district and injured six members of a family. That animal was rescued late on Sunday.
The Kawardha operation ended with the leopard removed from the hospital, while the forest department’s next steps regarding the animal were not specified in the supplied report.
