JERUSALEM, Israel: A man got more than he bargained for when he cuddled his pet cat one night in bed - only to discover it was in fact a leopard.

Authorities have warned the number of leopards approaching and even attacking humans is on the increase, especially in countries such as India.

This was the case with nature guide Arthur Du Mosch, according to Yahoo News. He was sound asleep in his bed at home with his pet cat and young daughter, who had been frightened by a mosquito in her own room. He awoke and was shocked to find a leopard had jumped though his bedroom window and hopped into bed with his sleeping family.

Clad only in underwear and a T-shirt, the 49-year-old wrestled the feline intruder to the ground, pinning the wild animal down until park rangers arrived to secure the unwelcome visitor.

"This kind of thing doesn't happen every day... I don't know why I did it. I wasn't thinking, I just acted "Du Mosch told the Detroit Free Press.

Rangers from the Israel Nature and Parks Protection Authority have already reported a number of leopards skulking about recently near Du Mosch's neighborhood, although they rarely threaten humans, according to Yahoo News.

However people in places like India are not so lucky, where leopards have been known to hunt near the edge of residential communities, many of which can be found in and around the country's national parks. While these wild cats more commonly kill livestock and other domesticated animals, actual attacks on humans are not at all uncommon.

In one case eight people were killed in a single month, according to national Indian newspaper The Hindu, including a lawyer out for an early morning jog in the forest, two four-year-old girls, and an 80-year-old man.

More recently, a leopard reportedly strayed into a woman's apartment and hid in the kitchen. It later attacked the woman, but forest officials were able to take down the big cat with tranquilizers.

In another incident, a man in northwestern India, was attacked by a leopard and her cub and suffered serious injuries to his head and legs, but was able to make it to a hospital.

Leopards stalk their prey silently, slowly, and patiently, creeping up to it at close range, then pouncing at the last minute. They use their powerful jaws to latch onto its' hapless victim throat, strangling it with a vicious bite, according to Wikipedia.

Leopards in Israel are mostly harmless, choosing to stay away from human communities. Reserves in Sri Lanka and in South Africa close off leopard territories to the public, allowing these big cats to thrive in relative peace, away from the prying eyes of humans, according to Wikipedia.

Leopards seen living near human settlements are usually too old to hunt in the wild, and instead resort to preying on domestic dogs and cats, such as Arthur Du Mosch's pet cat, which was incidentally, sleeping with him at the time.

Park officials said that the captured Israeli leopard was very weak when park rangers secured the animal.

Du Mosch told Yahoo he wouldn't have been able to control the predator were it in better health. He said as a nature guide he was familiar with animals and tried to hold down the leopard without hurting it. While he took it all in stride, he said "the kids were excited".