This is the terrifying moment police officers chased a wild jaguar as it jumped over a wall and entered a home in Brazil.

Footage shows the huge cat leaping over a fence as residents scrambled away from the dusty dirt track road.

But armed cops, more used to cartels and gun fights, struggled to capture the big cat in Extrema, Porto Velho, Rondonia, on Monday, September 22.

Locals said the animal roamed around the village before it was eventually restrained later that night by wildlife agents from the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA)

Authorities said the operation lasted around 10 hours. Local media reported that a veterinarian sedated the feline.

At least one resident was injured while trying to stop the wild cat from approaching a daycare centre full of children.

The jaguar was taken to the Wildlife Triage Centre (Cetas) and will be released in a forested area.

Brazil is a key country for jaguar conservation, home to an estimated half of the world's jaguar population.