The drama began late Sunday night when reports emerged on social media of a leopard sighting in the Sathra area. Residents searched with torches and phone lights but found nothing.
Later, CCTV footage showed the animal roaming through Madina Market, a busy commercial hub about a kilometer away, without encountering any security personnel or passers-by.
On Monday morning, the big cat was spotted in the Central Plate neighborhood near Jinnah Dental Hospital. It was seen leaping past a female resident and crouching in an open plot next to her house. “Surprisingly, it was not violent but friendly,” she recounted.
Another resident, Raja Asad Khan, described his unnerving face-to-face encounter when the leopard jumped into his house. “As I stepped out of the washroom, I suddenly found myself staring at it. I swiftly locked the room, retreated to safety, and alerted emergency services,” he said, adding that the animal appeared overwhelmed rather than aggressive. “It did not deliberately target my house. It was simply fleeing human pursuit.”
Police and wildlife teams rushed to the scene, but the leopard slipped away again, leading to conflicting reports and a flood of memes on social media.
Later that day, the animal entered a scrap warehouse owned by Matiullah Khan, an Afghan national. His children managed to lock it in a room, but the leopard forced its way out and climbed onto the roof before disappearing into a narrow alley leading to a basement where it eventually got stuck.
Wildlife teams attempted to tranquilize it, but the confined space made it difficult. By Tuesday morning, the leopard was visibly stressed, and vets advised against sedation, fearing it could be fatal.
Citizen’s Brave Act At this point, Mr. Khan volunteered to take matters into his own hands. Wearing protective gear, he crawled into the cavity with ropes as cameras recorded. “It attacked me thrice, but I didn’t give up. I wanted to rid this city, which gave me livelihood and respect, of fear and panic,” he later told Dawn.
With assistance from wildlife watchers and local volunteers, the leopard was finally subdued and moved to an iron cage.
Rehabilitation and Future Plans The animal, estimated to be between 1.5 and 2.5 years old, was transported to the wildlife department’s rehabilitation center. “We will keep it under observation to monitor its behavior, after which it will be released into its natural habitat,” said Wildlife Monitoring Officer Dr. Shaista Ali. “At the moment, it is healthy and active, but if its condition deteriorates, we will transfer it to Islamabad.”
Given the leopard’s lack of aggression and the uncertainty of how it ended up in the city, some residents speculated it might have been a pet. However, Dr. Ali stated it was too early to confirm or rule out this possibility.
