In the village of Kalanjoor in Kerala's Pathanamthitta, two stories of animals are afloat. One about a dog that saved a child and a leopard that nearly entered a house. At the heart of both stories is a woman and her two children. A week ago, Reshma, a homemaker at Poomaruthikuzhi, had a close encounter with a leopard.

The beast almost leapt through the back door. She closed the door just in the nick of time. The animal pounced at the wooden door, growled and left with scratches on the door. Inside, Reshma held her breath, holding together her two children as their pet dog Dora moved around restlessly.

Her stunning escape has rattled an entire village. The people walk along the lanes hemmed in by rubber trees and forest on either side with dread. The forest officials have placed cages. They monitor CCTV visuals and track pugmarks, hoping that the animal could be trapped and relocated, and restore peace in the village.

Reshma makes sure that she is always with the children. Tall trees loom over the narrow concrete road that leads to the anganwadi from their small house. She doesn't let her kids play outside anymore. It was a routine sight for the villagers to see the dog play with the children in front of the house, but not anymore.

“My husband and grandmother were away when the incident happened. I still feel nervous thinking about how narrowly we escaped. If Dora hadn’t sensed it and alerted us, God knows what would have happened. Even Dora was not active for two days afterwards due to fear,” Reshma said. Her home is in Ward 7 of Kalanjoor. “All of us are living in fear now. We don’t let our children play outside. Two weeks ago, a leopard took a man’s goat, so I was already on alert,” she added.

The two-year-old pet dog, Dora, at Reshma’s house in Kalanjoor was playing with stray dogs near their home on Monday. From a distance, Dora spotted a leopard and scampered back. Reshma’s younger son, two-year-old Sarang, was outside while Reshma had stepped inside to get ready to pick up her elder son from school. Without hesitation, Dora nudged Sarang inside with gentle bites to his legs and barked loudly to alert Reshma.

Reshma rushed out to see the cause of the commotion, but had little time to react before she saw the leopard heading towards the back door. Acting quickly, she threw Dora into the hall and locked the door behind them. The leopard clawed at the door and floor, but Reshma shouted and made loud noises until it retreated.

A few minutes later, she opened the door and left to pick up her elder son. On the way, neighbours stopped her, seeing her panic. Only when they saw the scratch marks did she fully register that the animal was a leopard.

In another incident on Thursday in Ward 4 of Kalanjoor, leopards targeted chickens at the home of Prasanna Kumari of Aryabhavan. The birds were found dead in the morning, their legs bitten off through the cage. CCTV footage confirmed the leopard’s presence. “When we checked the footage on Friday morning, we saw the leopard lurking near the cage,” Prasanna said.

Leopard attacks are not new to Kalanjoor. Six months ago, there were similar sightings. Forest range officers had installed cages and captured three leopards, but attacks resumed after the cages were removed.

“Everyone feels threatened, especially after hearing that the leopard almost entered a house in broad daylight around 3.30 pm. Initially, when chickens went missing, we thought it was another wild animal. The Konni forest range officers held an online meeting the next day and installed new cages in Wards 4 and 7,” said T V Pushpavally, Kalanjoor Panchayat president.

“The area is covered in grass and rubber trees, offering plenty of hiding spots for leopards. There are also quarries nearby. Waste piles and numerous stray dogs attract the animals. We have set up cages in various locations to trap them, but it is unclear how many leopards are in the area,” said Arun P A, Forest Range Officer, Konni division.