A leopard was rescued after it mistakenly entered a residential area in Andheri, Mumbai. The leopard was rescued 5 hours later and had to be tranquilized by the forest officials before they took the wild animal away.

Officials said that the leopard came from the Aarey Forest area, recently the Government of Mumbai declared that it is no longer a forest.

But environmentalists and wildlife experts say that it is still very dense and can be called a forest. The government of Mumbai wants to build a metro car shed in the Aarey Forest Jungle area.

On April 1, the leopard entered the residential area of Marol. Officials said that the leopard went to a church before entering in the residential area.

A CCTV clip showed the leopard roaming around the compound of the residential building.

Pramod Sambutwad informed the forest officials and the local police about the incident, Venkatesh Sambutwad, the brother of Pramod, asked the guard of the building to inform everyone in the building to stay inside their homes and lock the doors.

A resident said, that the leopard entered the compound by 9 AM, the locals spread the news as fast as they can. Residents of the building were advised to stay inside their flats, the leopard was hiding below a parked car and went to hide under a staircase of the building.

As the incident happened on April 1, many thought that the news was a prank. But their laughs turned into fear after they saw uniformed men rush in their building.

Dr. Shailesh Pethe a veterinary from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park said that the leopard was still a cub and was between 1 to 2 years old.