Four monkeys trapped on tree in flooded pond rescued

A group of four monkeys, trapped for four days on a peepal tree in the middle of a pond flooded by rainwater here in Gujarat, has been rescued, said a forest department official Friday.

A team of the Gujarat forest departmentand members of a localwildlife trust rescued the monkeys from the tree near Vaniyad village under Shinor tehsil of Vadodara district Thursday, said Sanjay Prajapati, Range Forest Officer (RFO).

The primates got stranded on the tree after the pond got flooded due to heavy rains, he said.

"The four monkeys, three of them females, could not leave the tree as it was surrounded by flood water and remained trapped there for four days without food and water," Prajapati said.

After the local villagers came to know about their plight, they contactedforest department officials at Shinor.

Vaibhav Patel, member of Wildlife Rescue Trust based at Dabhoi town in Vadodara district, was part of the rescue team.

"We made a temporaryboat using tyre tubes and five members of the team, includingmyself and Patel, entered the pond. Our members climbed on the tree and made the monkeys come down from the branches," Prajapati said.

Team members tied a 90-metre rope from the tree to a pole on the bank of the 30-feet deep pond. The monkeys, holding the rope, walked to safety one after another, he said.