Imagine attending a wedding, surrounded by music, laughter, and celebration—only for the joyous occasion to be interrupted by a wild leopard crashing the party. That’s exactly what happened in Lucknow, turning an evening of festivities into a frantic scramble for safety. The bizarre incident took place on Wednesday night at MM Lawn banquet hall, where a leopard wandered into the venue, causing chaos among the guests. Dressed in their finest attire, they suddenly found themselves running for their lives. In the commotion, one person was seriously injured after jumping off a roof to escape. A video of the dramatic scene, shared by Brut India on Instagram, quickly went viral. The footage captures police officers, armed with rifles, cautiously approaching a locked section of the hall. As they make their way upstairs, the leopard suddenly lunges into view, catching everyone off guard. Authorities acted swiftly. Police and forest department officials evacuated the guests and launched a search operation that lasted through the night. After hours of effort, the leopard was finally rescued at around 4 AM on Thursday. The video also shows the subdued big cat being carefully loaded into a cage. Watch the video: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Brut India (@brut.india) Sitanshu Pandey, divisional forest officer, Lucknow, said that it took more than four hours to safely capture the leopard, and that officials believe the animal may have strayed from the nearby forests around Lakhimpur Kheri or Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. Reacting to the video, a user wrote, “Is the leopard okay though?” Another user commented, “When someone says, 'I had a blast at the wedding'.” A third user said, “The wedding will be remembered for soooo lonnng.” According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, "India's leopard population is estimated at 13,874 in 2024, representing a stable population in comparison to the similar area being sampled in 2018 with 12852."
