Kibbutznik Spots Leopard, Saves Pet

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In Israel dog-bites-man is not news.

But leopard-tries-to is.

Arthur Du Mosch, a 49-year-old tour guide who made aliyah from Amsterdam 22 years ago, awoke early Monday morning to find a wild leopard in his bedroom in Sde Boker, a Negev kibbutz.

Du Mosch says the feline, which was too old to seek prey in the wild, was part of a pack that had been hunting domestic dogs and cats in the area recently, chasing the family’s house cat, Zehava, through an open window.

Du Mosch freed the cat, which survived the attack. He held the leopard until park rangers took it to a veterinarian clinic.

“He jumped on the leopard and pinned him to the floor,” said park ranger Amram Zabari.

The animal will receive medical treatment, then be transferred to an animal reserve.

“This kind of thing doesn’t happen every day,” Du Bosch said. “The kids were excited.”

Israel’s Nature and Parks Protection Authority, which supplied the photographs, said only 10 leopards live in the wild in Israel.

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