JOIN USForest official helps rescue a leopard by entering 100-feet deep dry well, Twitter lauds his commitment
Spotting and rescuing a leopard from a 100-feet dry well has earned a Karnataka forest official a lot of praise from netizens.
Photos of Antharasanthe Range Forest Officer (RFO) Siddaraju, sitting cross-legged in a metal cage with his mobile phone and torch was posted on Twitter by IFS officer Praveen Kaswan captioned, “This is what commitment looks like. Proud of such green soldiers,” on Monday.
The RFO had swung into action after getting complaints from villagers in Mysuru on Saturday. As the forest officials couldn’t spot the animal with the help of camera or sound devices, he decided to go into the well with his mobile phone and a torch.
He is Siddarju, RFO from Nagarhole. He entered 100ft dry well to rescue a leopard. By locking himself in a metal cage with a torch and his mobile phone in hand, entered a dry well to rescue a leopard. This is what commitment looks like. Proud of such green soldiers. pic.twitter.com/HBJokpdDOd
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) July 20, 2020
“We have been part of many such rescue operations before to help wild animals. This case was, however, unique as the officer decided to do it himself so that he could reassure villagers that the leopard wasn’t there as we had failed to catch any sound or visual proof of it inside the well,” the Director of Nagarahole Tiger Reserve D Mahesh Kumar told the Indian Express.
Replying to criticisms, Kumar said that there was a supply of oxygen cylinders and he was communicating with the other officials at all times. He was confident that if the leopard could survive for days, he could manage for a few minutes. Had there been any problem his colleagues would have pulled him out immediately.
On the third day of the rescue operation, Kumar spotted the leopard hidden inside a small cave-like structure in the well. “It only came out after midnight, so it was initially not possible to locate it. We saw it struggling to come out but it didn’t succeed,” he said.
After lowering nets and trying to bait it, the officials decided to tranquillise the leopard.
A professional was called in and he was sent down the well in full safety gear in a similar cage. An oxygen test was performed before he was lowered into the cage. “After the animal was tranquilised we pulled the man and the animal out safely around 6 pm yesterday,” Kumar added.
The leopard was kept in observation overnight by the State Forest Department. The animal was inside the deep well for almost six days and went hungry. He was extremely dehydrated, and was given electrolytes and water. Once it was fully conscious and recovered, we released it back into the wild today at around 10:30 am,” Kumar said.
The tweet by IFS Officer Kaswan garnered a heartwarming response by netizens who praised Kumar’s dedication and bravery.
One netizen tweeted: “We indians are proud of Mr Siddarju. Please reward him with promotion and cash incentives. This shows his diligence and perseverance. He is the epitome of goodness”, while another said that it was important to recognise and be grateful for the contributions of the forest officials.