A scary as well as intriguing video of a leopard trying to attack two-bike borne men is creating quite a stir on social media.
In the nail-biting clip shared by Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Susanta Nanda on his Twitter account, a leopard is seen leaping at bikers, who took the forest road at night. Luckily, the men escaped unhurt.
In the 12-second viral clip, the leopard is seen hiding in the bushes on one side of the road, which is empty. The car from which the video is shot is seen waiting for the leopard to cross. But a motorcycle comes from one of the sides of the car and goes ahead. As soon as the bike heads forward carrying a rider and a pillion, the big cat rushes out of the woods and pounces on them. The bikers were saved as the leopard misses its target by just a few inches.
The video has been captured post sunset and there is hardly much light. The leopard however, does not chase the bikers and instead gets into the woods on the other side of the road. Even the bike did not stop to notice what just happened and instead sped away.
The IFS officer captioned the video, "How could the leopard miss it." He further said, "All were waiting to give right of way to its real owner, the leopard, when a motorcyclist wanted to have his way. Would have been his last ride."
He also requested humans to respect the wild, "Please learn to respect the wild," he said.
Watch the hair-raising video here:
How could the leopard miss itAll were waiting to give right of way to its real owner, the leopard, when a motorcyclist wanted to have his way. Would have been his last ride. Please learn to respect the wild pic.twitter.com/j2yZiwEx7K— Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) November 15, 2019
Since being shared the viral video has been viewed over 15,200 times and has received over 1,070 likes.
People flooded the post with their comments with some saying that the leopard was a cub and that is why it may have missed its target.
This is a very young juvenile leopard both unskilled and disinterested in killing.— Ujval Nanavati (@cynical_ujval) November 18, 2019
I think it was a cub... that’s why missed them.— kamal (@Kamaalsharma) November 15, 2019
It's a young leopard, right? Adult one wouldn't have missed it.— samyak (@samyak_shah) November 16, 2019
It's a young one so missed it, and it slow down near the bike, i think leopard thought some animal running not bike, if it was targeted the bike, definitely run behind the bike,— ರಘು ಗೌಡ (@crazyraghu555) November 16, 2019
Some even asked why are roads constructed in forest areas?
Sir, why are roads built in forests to start with ?— Utopianys (@utopianys) November 15, 2019
Why not close roads in all wildlife area at night times, don't we trouble them enough in the day.I rememeber when that speeding driver killed an elephant in Kodagu. Tragic.— Doctor Doctor (@icedtea28) November 15, 2019
Here's how others reacted to the viral leopard video:
Juvenile playful leopard... wasn't going for the kill...just curious seeing a moving object.— Aloke Patnaik (@draloke) November 16, 2019
Bikers think that they can break laws of nature just like they break traffic laws in cities.— Vidya Heble (@purrsiflager) November 15, 2019
Great Escape, God saved them. — malladi madhukumar (@malladimk) November 15, 2019
Breath taking— OMKAR RANE (@illuminaati) November 17, 2019
Very lucky. Missed by a fraction of second...— Jss (@Jss12418119) November 16, 2019