Karnataka: Year-old leopard that had fallen inside a well rescued

A one-year-old female leopard that had fallen inside a well in Niddodi near Kateel was rescued by forest department personnel with help from wild life specialists and veterinarians on Sunday.

The leopard had fallen into the well two days ago. All attempts by forest department to rescue leopard from the well did not yield any results. Even water was pumped out of the well to rescue it. Forest officials of the Moodbidri range contacted Chitte Pili Rescue Centre and sought their help in rescuing the leopard that had accidentally fallen inside the well.

Wild life specialist and Rescue team head Dr Yashasvi Naravi said that Dr Meghana, Dr Prithvi, Dr Nafisa and himself eventually succeeded in rescuing the leopard. In fact, the forest department had lowered the cage and also had placed a ladder for the leopard to escape. But the commotion had forced the Leopard to hide in the cave located inside the well, he said.

"The well is around 20 to 25 feet deep. After meticulous planning, it was decided to tranquilise the leopard and get it out of the well. Dr Meghana sat inside the cage with darts and gun. The cage was slowly lowered inside the well with the help of local residents and forest department. The leopard was later darted and after 20 minutes, the leopard was dragged into the cage. Later, the entire cage was lifted. After 45 minutes, the leopard regained consciousness. After testing its condition, we found it to be fit for release into the forest. The officials later released the leopard into the forest,” Dr Yashasvi explained.