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Children in the Indian village of Bhatvadar brought home a kitten one night last week and played with the fuzzy feline throughout the following day, the Times of India reports. That is, until the kitty growled. "It was only when we heard the cub growling that we realized it was not a kitten, but a leopard," villager Bharat Sakat told the Times of India.
Leopards prowl across Africa and Asia, and a unique subspecies is native to the Indian subcontinent, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). The striking, spotty big cats can weigh up to 200 pounds, sprint 36 miles per hour, and leap 20 feet forward in a single bound, the San Diego Zoo reports.
While they're undeniably adorable, the powerful predators clearly don't make great pets. Fortunately, the Indian villagers quickly figured out that they had a leopard on their hands. "Fearing that its mother might be nearby, we released it in the wild near where the children had found it," Sakat said.
So the next time your kids come home with a kitten, whining "pleeeease," remember that it could be worse.
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they really shouldnt have released it close to where the kids found it. what they really should have done was to bring the baby leopard to the nearest zoo and explain to them what happened. that baby may not survive if the mother does not find him/her.
No, I think it best to either let the cub find its mom, or die trying. If i was the cub, I would much rather die in the wild then live the rest of my life in jail!
The mother will find it. Believe me! It's better to put them back where they found them.
Jennifer - animals DON'T belong in zoos - they belong in the wild, that is the natural order of things, and if the leopard doesn't survive that is also the natural order of things. They were completely right to take it back near where they found it, this is where it belongs. Zoos are not a natural habitat for any animal - they don't belong in cages for humans to stare at!
Even if the mother did find the cub, she may reject it due to the smell of the kids on the cub. The villagers should have called a wildlife reserve or zoo to take the cub. As it is, the cub will probably die of starvation, which is much worse than the zoo or wildlife reserve.
You don't read an article like that every day. I thought a wildlife specialist would be called in and the kitten made as comfortable as possible until comfortable arrangements could be made. Placing a tiny baby alone in the forrest is not the best alternative. The little thing is helpless. Any predator from the air or the ground would quickly snap up the kitten. Much more likely than that its mother regained it and they went off to live happily ever after.
People, this is INDIA, not the US. Zoos are probably horrible places (if it's anything like China) and there is no one to call to take care of the cub.
ARE YOU SERIOUS!!?!??!?!?!
You think China have terrible zoos!!!
I went to the Bronx Zoo and I see the dolphin keeper just poking at it with his net >_>.
I also notice that Americans prefer to be ignorant most of the time about themselves >_> while they think other people in the world should be classify as below them >_>.
So does that mean you're a hypocrite O_O???
Kootigawa,
The Bronx Zoo doesn't have dolphins. So before you call someone ignorant, know what you are talking about.
Clearly the three of you did not properly read the article. This did not happen in downtown Cleveland. The story happened in a little village in India where the closest zoo is probably 100 or more miles away. In these parts a baby animal that is accidentally found or wanders into a village is turned around and sent back to the wild. I will never get over the ignorant comments posted on stories such as this one. Get a life.
Greg.....you are absolutely right. My husband is from India and his mother grew up on one of those remote villages. That is simply the way of life there. It does tug at the heartstrings though to think that a tiny baby was left alone to wander in the woods.
Leopard kittens are so, so much larger than domesticated kittens. I could understand how little kids thought it was a regular kitten, but how in the world could the parents have thought this to be a domesticated kitten?
That young leopard was probably as big as a house cat. These kids must have been quite stupid to think it was a kitten.
I thought Indian people were smarter than us....All of our physicians in America are from India (or first/second generation Indian-Americans)!!
In most places the people aren't as destitute as in poor areas of the southern US and Appalachia.... they could have called an authority in to help with the cub. Just not responsible enough!
Send PETA!!
Peace.
CYN... I GUESS THEY ARE SMARTER THAN YOU. HELLO, REMOTE VILLAGE, AS FAR AS I KNOW, ALOT OF THE VILLAGES DON'T HAVE PHONES! HOW ARE THEY SUPPOSE TO CALL.
In most places the people aren't as destitute as in poor areas of the southern US and Appalachia....
You should watch "Slumdog Millionaire."
The mother leopard was likely nearby and they were lucky to have not been attacked by her. If the cub was an orphan, unfortunately Nature would have dealt with it in the only way it could. And another creature's babies would have had a meal.
Well, not all of them are physicians. There are far more people from India running hotels/motels, jewlery stands and convenience stores.
When I was a child in PA my brothers brought a kitten home from the woods. It had a stubby tail so we thought it was a manx kitten. When it grew and was able to jump 6 ft straight up we realized it was a bobcat. Mom made us take it back to the woods.
This is not a house cat people, It's a WILD animal. This is a leopard. Can you imagine what might have happened to the villagers there if the mother came looking for it. It's nature people, babies die. Yes it's sad when things die, but if a bear cub wandered into your yard and you lived in the middle of no where, are you going to pick it up and cuddle it?? No you are going to leave it alone. Really...
Depending on the age of the cub..it's likely it wouldn't survive without it's mother...I don't agree with zoo's 100%..but if they're endangered & there's no place else for them to go...? I would have liked to hear them say there was a wildlife sanctuary they could've brought it to,that can teach it to survive on it's own.