City put on lockdown after leopard strays into cinema

Wildlife experts are trying to track down a leopard after it burst into a city"s residential area and injured at least two people.

The big cat strayed into the northe Indian town of Meerut, near Delhi, on Sunday night, entering a hospital, a warehouse, a residential complex and even a cinema.

Health workers managed to trap the leopard, thought to have strayed into the city from nearby woodland, in a hospital room but it escaped by smashing through glass panes before it could be tranquilised.

The leopard has still not been located and schools and colleges are understood to be closed in Meerut.

The leopard had been contained in a hospital room (Picture: AFP/Getty)

‘We received calls about the animal"s location in Abulane market," forest officer Sushant Sharma told the Hindustan Times.

‘We are visiting the area with a team of wildlife experts to tranquilise the leopard."

Police officer Onkar Singh added: ‘We urged the public not to go near the animal, but they went close out of curiosity and the animal attacked them, inflicting minor injuries."

Conservations have waed the leopard"s presence in the city was probably the result of human encroachment on animals" natural habitats.

The big cat managed to escape (Picture: AFP/Getty)