Video: Leopard hit by car on a highway; escapes with bruises

Tribune Web Desk

June 23

A heart-wrenching video of a leopard struggling to be released from beneath a car that hit it has surfaced online. As the driver pulled the car back to save the wild beast, the leopard is seen being dragged by the vehicle for a moment, before attacking it back. Moments later, the wounded leopard is then seen fleeing the scene.

The clip shared by Milind Pariwakam, International Union for Conservation of Nature member shows the leopard lying beneath the car’s bonnet. Half of its body is under the car. The driver reverses the car, which reveals bruises on the leopard’s back. The leopard wiggles hard and after the driver further reverses the car, it crosses the road. Then the leopard is seen jumping from a wall on the opposite side.  

This is what we are doing to our wildlife. It's a simple case of bad planning. More importantly we are building unsafe roads for citizens. @OfficeOfNG @MORTHIndia @MORTHRoadSafety @nitin_gadkari @RoadkillsIndia
Warning: Gruesome video...source social media#roadkills pic.twitter.com/dwls5tdzp8

— Milind Pariwakam 🇮🇳 (@MilindPariwakam) June 20, 2022

Pariwakam tagged Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India. “This is what we are doing to our wildlife. It’s a simple case of bad planning. More importantly, we are building unsafe roads for citizens. @OfficeOfNG @MORTHIndia @MORTHRoadSafety @nitin_gadkari @RoadkillsIndia Warning: Gruesome video…source social media #roadkills,” Pariwakam tweeted.

Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon also shared a clip of the video that shows the leopard fleeing after the accident.

Prayers for this beautiful leopard… hope he survives,even though he’s badly wounded , he escapes into the jungle . @WildLense_India I hope our politicians wake to the fact that linear development can happen hand in hand with well thought of conservation methods. pic.twitter.com/KbdhgRoaZS

— Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) June 20, 2022

“Prayers for this beautiful leopard… hope he survives, even though he's badly wounded, he escapes into the jungle,” Tandon wrote in the caption, adding, “I hope our politicians wake to the fact that linear development can happen hand in hand with well thought of conservation methods.”

Since being shared, the video has taken the internet by storm. Indian Forest Service officer Susanta Nanda shared another clip of the incident. He said that the leopard is alive and efforts are on to locate and treat it.

Many wanted to know as to what happened to the leopard. Here it is. Bruised but managed to escape the impending death. Efforts on to locate & treat the injured one. https://t.co/meXkRYWUH9 pic.twitter.com/v4puxEsYYw

— Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) June 20, 2022

“Many wanted to know as to what happened to the leopard. Here it is. Bruised but managed to escape the impending death. Efforts on to locate & treat the injured one, “Nanda tweeted.  He said the incident happened in Chandanpuri ghat, Pune Nashik highway.

In the past, leopard deaths have been reported from across the nation after allegedly being hit by vehicles. Recently, at least four animals, including three hog deer and one leopard, were killed in Assam's Kaziranga National Park after they were hit by speeding cars on the national highway while trying to seek shelter in the highland areas to get some respite from the floods. Since long, wildlife activists have been demanding wildlife-friendly measures, such as the construction of underpasses on highways.

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