![](https://ftw.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/2024/03/leopard.jpeg?w=1000&h=600&crop=1)
A boy sitting on an office bench near an open door was suddenly confronted by a leopard stepping inside the room just a couple of feet away from him.
Mohit Ahire, 12, was playing a video game on a phone in the booking office of Sai Celebration wedding hall in Malegaeon, India, when the close encounter occurred Tuesday morning, as reported by the Times of India.
A surveillance camera captured what happened and it was posted on X.
What an amazing presence of mind
Mohit Ahire, a 12-year-old boy, locked a leopard inside an office cabin until assistance arrived in Malegaon & the leopard was rescued.
Mohit immediately informed his father, who is a security guard, that he trapped a leopard inside the office. pic.twitter.com/FELlOGac1t
— Anshul Saxena (@AskAnshul) March 6, 2024
“The leopard was so close,” Ahire told the Times of India. “There was hardly any space between the leopard and me. It walked into the inner cabin of the office right in front of me. I was scared, but I quietly managed to get off the bench and sneak out of the office. I closed the door behind me.”
Ahire is the son of a security guard at the wedding hall. After trapping the leopard, he told his father, who alerted authorities.
The leopard was eventually tranquilized and relocated by a team from Nashik city.
The calmness Ahire exhibited is truly remarkable.