Man concerns neighbors by walking leashed leopard through playground

Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Residents of an apartment building in Russia are complaining about a neighbor seen walking around a playground with an unusual pet -- a leopard.

Security camera footage from the building in Nizhny Novgorod shows the man, identified in media reports only as Aleksandr, walking his leopard down a staircase with the animal restrained only by a dog leash.

Neighbors said Aleksandr regularly walks the leopard through the playground just outside of the building's front entrance. They raised concerns the big cat could pull away from its owner and pose a serious danger to children playing.

Aleksandr said the leopard does not pose a danger to his neighbors.

"The animal is completely tame, it doesn't bite, doesn't jump at anybody... It has never happened. There is no danger," he told Nizhny Novgorod's Kstati News.

Aleksandr said he has been caring for the leopard since it was born. He did not reveal where he got the animal.

Neighbors said they are filing a police complaint about the feline resident and the regional veterinary authority said no permits have been issued in the area for keeping such an exotic animal.