Wildlife up close: Leopard gatecrashes newlywed couple’s honeymoon in India - TomoNews
- 8 years ago
NAINITAL, INDIA — A newlywed couple got the fright of their lives last week when an uninvited guest joined them in their honeymoon suite in India.
Sumit Rathore, 31, and his wife Shivani were staying at the Shashi Hotel in the Himalayan resort town of Nainital last Sunday. They had a rude awakening in the early hours when they were roused from their slumber by the sound of shattering glass.
Shocked to see a leopard staring them down at the end of their bed, the couple hid under the covers and prayed. But the leopard was scared, too.
The big cat ran to the hotel because it had been chased by a pack of street dogs, before crashing through the couple’s window. The leopard then took shelter in the bathroom.
Seizing his chance, the husband barricaded the bathroom door and called for help.
Wildlife officials later arrived with a cage and tranquilizer gun, ready to catch the leopard — but the wily cat escaped through the bathroom window.
Hotel manager Lalit Singh said he had never seen anything like it.
“It was around 5:30 a.m. when the staff informed me about the intrusion of the big cat in our hotel. My first reaction was ‘a leopard in a hotel room?’ It must be a cat!” Singh said.
“As the commotion increased, I went down and what I saw was unimaginable! A leopard was trapped inside the washroom. Immediately, I shifted the guests to a safer place and informed the forest officials.
“I had never heard of a leopard entering a hotel room in Nainital before.”
Sumit Rathore, 31, and his wife Shivani were staying at the Shashi Hotel in the Himalayan resort town of Nainital last Sunday. They had a rude awakening in the early hours when they were roused from their slumber by the sound of shattering glass.
Shocked to see a leopard staring them down at the end of their bed, the couple hid under the covers and prayed. But the leopard was scared, too.
The big cat ran to the hotel because it had been chased by a pack of street dogs, before crashing through the couple’s window. The leopard then took shelter in the bathroom.
Seizing his chance, the husband barricaded the bathroom door and called for help.
Wildlife officials later arrived with a cage and tranquilizer gun, ready to catch the leopard — but the wily cat escaped through the bathroom window.
Hotel manager Lalit Singh said he had never seen anything like it.
“It was around 5:30 a.m. when the staff informed me about the intrusion of the big cat in our hotel. My first reaction was ‘a leopard in a hotel room?’ It must be a cat!” Singh said.
“As the commotion increased, I went down and what I saw was unimaginable! A leopard was trapped inside the washroom. Immediately, I shifted the guests to a safer place and informed the forest officials.
“I had never heard of a leopard entering a hotel room in Nainital before.”