A Leopard in the Bedroom

A Leopard in the Bedroom
Sde Boker man awakes to find a leopard in his bedroom ?By Jonathan Lis and Zafrir Rinat At 3 A.M., when he was half-asleep, Arthur du Mosch heard the family cat Zehava, lying next to him in bed, screech. Opening his eyes, du Mosch suddenly saw an animal walking toward him. "Zehava leaped," du Mosch recalled yesterday. "At first I thought a street cat had gotten into the house. Then I suddenly realized it was a leopard."
Seconds later, the leopard was trying to devour Zehava on the bedroom floor: The leopard had Zehava by the neck. A stunned Arthur jumped out of bed. "The leopard was shaking Zehava, trying to break his neck. Either it was busy, or it just didn't give a damn about me, and didn't notice me approaching."

Du Mosch, a married father of three, cannot explain why he decided to restrain a leopard with his bare hands. "I acted without thinking," du Mosch recounted later. "I jumped on him and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck like you do to a kitten, only much harder, and that neutralized him. I dragged him with all my might onto the bed and held him down with my leg. He was shocked and released the cat."
The commotion awoke the entire household and everyone soon leaped into action. Fourteen-year-old Inbar sat on the bed with Arthur, while 15-year-old Jonathan brought a camera to document the drama. "I held him like that for about 20 minutes until the rangers arrived. In the meantime, I talked to him in Dutch. I have a way with animals."
Meanwhile though, in trying to break free, the leopard scratched du Mosch's leg. Three Israel Nature and Parks Authority rangers that du Mosch's wife, Anat, called hurried to the Midreshet Ben Gurion home and helped overcome the predator.
"The leopard apparently went in Jonathan's room. Our dog, Duba, barked like mad, but we didn't realize anything was wrong," Arthur recalls. "The leopard apparently panicked and backed out of Jonathan's room and headed for our bedroom."

Yesterday it became clear that a few hours before visiting the du Mosch home, the leopard had wandered the streets of the desert neighborhood and killed a cat.
The leopard's capture ended a dramatic period at Midreshet Ben Gurion. "That wildcat has been here for a few weeks if not months. People have seen him and tried to chase him away, but he has returned and killed a few neighborhood cats and a dog. He never went into a house before, just looked for food in yards."
Arthur, who immigrated from the Netherlands in the '80s, and Anat du Mosch have lived at Midreshet Ben Gurion for a few years, and both have scientific backgrounds. Arthur used to research ibex in the region. He believes the leopard's exhaustion and maybe illness drove him to seek food in a residential area.
"The ibex around here are having a very good year. There are many more than last year. In dry years, they have to come to the spring to drink, where the leopard can get close enough to kill one. Prey like that is good for three days of food for a leopard. But it looks like he is too tired to chase them."
Yesterday's capture may not be enough to calm residents of the desert community. Arthur, who isn't worried by predators wandering the area, is sure there is at least a female in the area.

Closed in a trash bin in which air holes were hastily drilled before it was tied shut with rope, the Middle East's rarest predator arrived yesterday at the Hebrew University Veterinary Teaching Hospital at Beit Dagan. Once there, a medical exam revealed the leopard to be in poor physical health.
INPA veterinarian Ronny King told his superiors he wasn't willing to take responsibility for a quick field exam and the predator's speedy release back into nature.
The leopard weighed in at just over twenty kilograms, very low for a healthy male leopard. In a comprehensive medical exam including X-rays, blood tests and a CAT scan, "we found he has a degenerative joint condition," explained veterinary radiology expert Professor Uri Bargai. "This is caused by crossbreeding, which exacerbates genetic problems. This is likely in light of the small leopard population. Clearly, he cannot hunt and needs to be in an enclosed area."
When the leopard woke up from a sedative yesterday afternoon, he didn't find himself at home on Mt. Negev, but in a cage in King's car on his way to the Hai Bar Wildlife Preserve at Yotvata in the Arava. The wildcat may be tagged with a radio collar, which would track his habits, and maybe alert Midreshet Ben Gurion residents of his approach if necessary.
Reuters: 29th May 2007