TEHRAN: A leopard was shot dead in the northern Iranian city of Ghaemshahr on Sunday after attacking and injuring a policeman, state media reported.
The endangered big cat "was killed by two bullets to save the life of the police officer," said Moslem Ahangari, head of the Mazandaran province Environmental Protection Unit, according to the IRNA news agency.
The health of the police officer was reported to be "stable," it added.
Earlier, the province's environment protection spokesman, Kamyar Valipur, had reported that the leopard had "attacked and injured a policeman before fleeing towards a garden", IRNA reported.
The leopard was then taken to a wildlife centre but died of the gunshot wounds.
A video posted on social media shows the leopard crouched on the city street outside a bank. Panicked, the animal jumps a few seconds later, and flees.
The inhabitants are seen terrified, screaming and running in all directions, according to the images.
According to the IRNA agency, the province's environment department is investigating whether the animal entered the city from forested areas or was being illegally kept in a local household.
Persian leopards are listed as an endangered species on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
They are a panther sub-species native to Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and the Caucasus. Fewer than 1,000 are believed to exist in the wild, with another 200 in captivity.
Many wild animals, including wolves and foxes, have been seen in urban areas in Iran in recent weeks, according to Hamshahri, the daily newspaper of Tehran's municipality.
The newspaper notably reported the sighting of a bear in the southern town of Marvdasht and a wolf attack on two elderly women in Khalkhal, northwest Iran.
Leopard shot dead after attacking policeman in Iranian city
Leopard shot dead after attacking policeman in Iranian city
Protesters try to attack driver after truck speeds through anti-Iran demonstration in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with marchers demonstrating in support of the Iranian people, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver.
The U-Haul truck, with its side mirrors shattered, was stopped several blocks away and surrounded by police cars. ABC7 news helicopter footage showed officers keeping the crowd at bay as demonstrators swarmed the truck, throwing punches at the driver and thrusting flagpoles through the driver’s side window.
The police department confirmed its officers were on the scene but didn’t immediately say if anyone was arrested.
Two people were evaluated by paramedics and both declined treatment, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
Several hundred people had gathered Sunday afternoon in the Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian theocracy. The LA police department eventually issued a dispersal order, and by 5 p.m. only about a hundred protesters were still at the scene, ABC7 reported.
Activists say a crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran has killed more than 530 people. Protesters flooded the streets in Iran’s capital of Tehran and its second-largest city again Sunday.
