Kuningan, W. Java. Wildlife officers in West Java rescued a three-year-old male Javan leopard on Tuesday after the animal strayed into a village warehouse in Kuningan Regency, causing panic and curiosity among residents.

The 30-kilogram leopard was discovered inside the Kutamandarakan village hall warehouse in Maleber subdistrict on Tuesday morning. Villagers heard its growls the previous night before the discovery was confirmed at around 7 a.m.

Imam, a construction worker, was the first to spot the animal when he opened the warehouse door to collect building materials. The leopard, startled, bolted into another room. The incident quickly drew hundreds of onlookers and prompted a coordinated response from local police, firefighters, disaster management officers, and the West Java Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA).

After three hours of preparation, a team from BKSDA’s Cirebon unit tranquilized the leopard and secured it in a transport cage by late afternoon.

“The leopard will undergo observation and rehabilitation in quarantine, possibly at Lembang Zoo or another facility, before being released back into its natural habitat,” said Achmad Arifin, head of BKSDA Region III West Java.

Kuningan Police Chief, who oversaw the evacuation, urged residents to be more mindful of environmental balance. “When a leopard enters human settlements, it signals ecological disruption in its habitat,” he said.

Critically Endangered Species
The Javan leopard (Panthera pardus melas) is found only on Indonesia’s most populous island, Java, and is listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Its remaining habitats include national parks such as Ujung Kulon, Gunung Halimun-Salak, Meru Betiri, Baluran, and Bromo Tengger Semeru, as well as several mountain forests across the island.

In Kuningan, the leopard was most likely to have strayed from Mount Ciremai National Park, a nearby conservation area that still harbors a small but vital population of the species.

According to the Java-Wide Leopard Survey (JWLS) launched on February 27, 2024, the estimated population of Javan leopards stands at around 350 mature individuals.