A leopard suddenly pounced on a forest official during a rescue operation after being hit by a car.
The injured big cat was found lying on a busy highway, prompting forest officials to rush to the scene.
A team tranquillised the leopard before attempting to secure it and take it for medical treatment.
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But the sedative had apparently not fully taken effect – and the animal suddenly sprang into action.
Dramatic footage, which emerged today (8 September), shows the leopard lunging at one of the officials and knocking him to the ground, as reported by Need To Know.
The stunned rescuer appears to be caught completely off guard as the big cat pounces.
His colleagues immediately rush in to help, using a stick to tap and distract the leopard.
The intervention gives the official enough time to scramble back to his feet and escape.
The injured animal then moves away from the group and crawls towards a grassy area beside the road.
Officials eventually managed to secure the leopard and transport it to a hospital.
It is now being treated for injuries suffered when it was struck by the car in Davangere, Karnataka, India.
Figures show 570 leopards were rescued across Karnataka in the five years to November 2025.
Mysuru district recorded the highest number, with 251 rescues.
Over the same period, 19 people were killed in leopard attacks across the state.
Encounters are particularly common around forest fringes and rural areas, where the big cats can stray close to human settlements.
Earlier this year, a 10-year-old boy was killed in a leopard attack in Karnataka’s Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.
It came months after a 31-year-old farmer was killed in the nearby MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary.
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