Leopard Attack Caught On Camera: Wild Leopard Enters School, Attacks Wildlife Enthusiast, Cameramen

A wild leopard that managed to enter a school in Bangalore, India, has been tranquilized and captured after a long 14-hour-long operation. Before the leopard was captured, it managed to attack and injure three people — one of whom was renowned wildlife expert Sanjay Gubbi. The shocking attack was caught on camera. We have embedded the video of the leopard attack below.

[Warning: The footage is graphic in nature. Viewer discretion is advised.]

According to the Indian Express, the wild leopard entered the Vibgyor High School, located in the Kundalahalli area of the city, on early Sunday morning. The security guards on duty at the school confirmed that the wild animal entered the premises at around 4 a.m. local time. When footage from surveillance cameras placed inside the school building was played out, they showed the leopard moving freely inside the school campus.

WATCH: Leopard strays into Vibgyor School campus in Kundalahalli (Bengaluru)https://t.co/bt1bLI1I8P

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By daybreak, authorities from the forest department were at the scene. They came armed with dart guns and tranquilizers. However, the leopard was nowhere to be seen, following which the officials started carefully searching for the animal across the school campus. In the meantime, a large crowd had gathered near and outside the school, which made the operation even more difficult to execute. Finally, the officials figured out that the animal was hiding inside one of the rooms inside the school building and commenced an operation to safely remove it from there. Sanjay Gubbi, a local wildlife expert, had also joined in to document the event and assist the forest department officials. It was only by evening that the forest department charted a plan to tranquilize and trap the leopard. As part of the operation, the team of forest department officials homed in on the room where the leopard was hiding and planned to use a dart to tranquilize the animal and take it out safely.

However, all the plans went awry at the last minute when the animal suddenly darted out of the room and reached the pool area of the school. There were several forest department officials, cameramen, and Sanjay Gubbi himself near the pool. The tensed animal started attacking the people in the vicinity. In the footage, you can see a forest department official training the dart gun at the leopard as it attacks one person. The first person manages to successfully ward off the animal, after which it runs towards the other end of the pool and bites another man. Sanjay Gubbi, sensing the leopard would attack him, attempts to scale a wall — but the leopard quickly reaches him and drags him down. The animal then stops for a few seconds and then turns back and once again attacks Gubbi, who is defenseless, armed with just a pair of binoculars. In the later part of the footage, you can clearly see the leopard mauling Gubbi and then running away from there into a room. However, before the leopard manages to enter the room, one of the darts hits it.

A few minutes later, the animal is completely tranquilized and was removed from the school campus. According to a senior wildlife official, the leopard was taken to the nearby Bannerghatta National Park to be revived. The injured people were admitted to local hospitals.

Meanwhile, officials are relieved that the leopard attack happened on a Sunday — when the school remains closed. Had it been a weekday, the area would have been full of children who would have been an easy target for the leopard. Officials are investigating how the wild animal managed to reach the school, which is located in the center of Bangalore city, which is among the biggest cities in India.

[Image via AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha]