Villagers were seen around the leopard, playing with it at a village in Madhya Pradesh (File)
A leopard, with whom villagers were spotted playing and taking selfies at a village in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas, died at a zoo in Indore during treatment on Friday.
The leopard was seriously ill and was undergoing treatment at a veterinary hospital in Indore, an official said.
"The animal was brought from the Dewas forest range around 10 am and the treatment began at 11 am. The primary symptoms were noticed seemed neurological," Dr Uttam Yadav, in-charge of Kamla Nehru Prani Sangrahalaya, said.
There could be multiple reasons for the death, he said, adding that the villagers were treating and handling the leopard like a calf, which was very surprising.
"This is a case of neurological disorder in which the animal forgets its identity. It was seen in the viral video that the leopard neither roared nor attacked anyone. The villagers were treating it like a calf," Dr Yadav told news agency ANI.
"A team of Dewas Forest Department came to Indore with the leopard and we started treating it. There can be many reasons - either a dumped form of rabies or the canine distemper virus," Dr Yadav said.
According to the veterinarian, partial blindness was also found in the leopard and it was having fits every half an hour, like in epilepsy. The animal's body was stiff and the body temperature was high. However, it was brought under control. There was also dehydration due to the leopard being hungry and thirsty for a long time.
According to him, the leopard's fits and epilepsy reduced in the last 24 hours but its condition remained critical.
A team of Wildlife Forensic and Health from Jabalpur collected samples from the animal for further examination.
The age of the leopard was about 10 years and there were no injury marks on its body.