However, unlike in the fairy tales, the frightened girl rushed into her parents' room, woke them up and told them that a `big dipda' had made itself at home in their kitchen. The family quietly locked the kitchen door and called the authorities who tranquilized it and took it to the zoo.

It seemed the leopard had, after rummaging through the leftover food in the kitchen, found a cool place and settled down to relax, oblivious of the flutter it had caused in the household.

According to Ramabhai Mehr, in whose house the leopard was found, the big cat probably walked into the house through a rear door left open. ``It probably came from the thick jungle area of Dharagadh Darwaja behind which our residential area is located. When my daughter walked into kitchen, she found theleopard sitting and staring at her, but it did not move or attack her.''

The forest officials gathered details about the location of the leopard and then captured it. Junagadh zoo superintendent I M Kailla said, ``It was a challenge for us to capture that leopard. We had to take care not to hurt it and also keep in mind that it did not become agitated and attack anyone in the area. First, we went to the roof and from a gap there, closed the doors of the kitchen using sticks so that the animal did not try to run.

Afterwards, veterinary surgeon of Sakarbaug Zoo C N Bhuva gave it a shot with a tranquilizer gun.''

When the leopard lost consciousness, the forest officials transferred it to a cage and took her to the Sakarbaug Zoo. Forest officials said the leopard was under treatment at the zoo.