A moment of panic marked a stretch of busy highway near Anagodu, India, on Monday (7/9). A leopard, wounded after being hit by a vehicle, attacked a Department of Forestry agent during a rescue operation. The animal was trapped in a ditch by the roadside when people nearby called the authorities.
The rescue team tried to sedate the feline to transport it to a medical treatment facility. Before the sedative took effect, the leopard reacted aggressively, lunging at one of the officers and knocking him down on the asphalt.
The scene of despair was contained by other onlookers who, using large sticks, frantically distracted the feline, allowing the victim to escape from the animal's sharp claws. Right after the attack, the sedative began to take effect and the leopard retreated, dizzy, to the ditch, where it fell unconscious.
The Forestry Department managed to immobilize the feline and take it for medical care.
