This is the dramatic moment a wild leopard trapped in a home in western India lunged at officers who were trying to dart the big cat.

Footage captured on October 23 in the Ramnagar district of Karnataka shows the two-year-old leopard pacing around inside a home.

A team of vets and wildlife officers are at a window and manage to shoot the creature with a tranquillizer dart when it suddenly attacks and lunges at them through the open window.

Fortunately, none of the rescuers was hurt in the incident and they moved the tranquillized big cat from the home a few minutes later.

The leopard was released in a nearby forest.

Villagers said the leopard had become a nuisance as it was frequently preying on sheep and dogs.

A leopard entered the house of a doctor at midnight of October 23 looking for food. The family living in Jalamangala village in Ramnagar district of Karnataka state ran out and locked the  door from outside and called the forest department. A team of vets and tranquiliser experts led by Dr Umashankar went to the village and successfully fired a tranquillizer dart through the window during which the leopard tried to attack them from inside. It was eventually shifted to a cage and then released in the wild. Ramanagar range forest officer Kiran said the female was healthy and appeared to be two years old. The entire operation took five hours.

Villagers said the leopard had become a nuisance as it was frequently preying on sheep and dogs.