A leopard entered the Chamarajanagar Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS) doctors’ quarters in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka on Wednesday. CCTV footage showed the leopard entering the doctors’ quarters on campus around 9:30 pm. In the video, the leopard is seen running through a corridor, turning back and looking into a room before exiting the corridor again.
Dr GM Sanjeev, Dean and Director of CIMS, told TNM that the doctors’ quarters is close to the college campus in Yadapura village. He denied that the leopard was near the hospital, stating that the main hospital building is 8 km away in Chamarajanagara town.
“The doctors’ quarters is located next to forest land and it is common to sight leopards in the area. This time the leopard entered the doctors quarters briefly for a minute. It was caught on the CCTV. There was no issue caused by this,” Dr Sanjeev said.
According to Dr Sanjeev, leopard sightings in the quarters are not uncommon. Incidents of sightings have been reported a few times in the past as well.
CIMS is affiliated with the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) and admits 150 medical students every year. It maintains a 300-bed district hospital at B Rachaiah Double Road in Chamarajanagara town. The institute was started by the Karnataka government and it was registered in the year 2013.
In 2019, a video of a leopard trying to sink its teeth into a porcupine near Chamarajanagar had gone viral. The incident happened at the Chamarajanagar-Satymangalamroad, which comes under the Biligiriranga Hills Tiger Reserve (BRT). A few travellers going down the road late at night captured the video, which showed the leopard trying to bite the porcupine, and the porcupine spreading its quills and deflecting the leopard’s attacks.