Leopard rescued from 60-ft deep well after 44-hour operation

A male leopard was rescued in Harakhpur village of Dahod district of Gujarat after it fell into a 60-feet deep well in an agricultural field, forest officials said today.
The young leopard was spotted by villagers on February 13 at around 11 AM after which officials reached the spot and began the rescue operations which lasted for 44 hours, said assistant conservator of forests, Sunil Berwal.
"We found the leopard sitting on a ledge inside the well at a depth of about 25 feet. It had fallen into the well while chasing a pig. As the well was about 60 feet deep, we realised there was no way we could risk tranquilising the animal as it could fall into the water and drown," he said.

"So we lowered a cot and a ladder into the well to enable him to climb on. However, it continued to hold on to the ledge for the whole day on February 13," the official said.
"On February 14, the leopard was found to have fallen into the water. So we lowered two cots into the well. It climbed onto one of the cots," Berwal said.
After seeing the animal shiver due to the cold water, officials allowed him to warm up by remaining on the cot in the sun on February 14.

"We were convinced that it was not injured as the leopard, aged around 3-4 years, was seen playing on the cot, which was left suspended just above the water level.

"Yesterday morning we started pulling up the rope tied to the cot slowly. As it came up, the animal jumped and disappeared into the nearby forest," the officer said.
The rescue operation was conducted under the guidance of P A Vihol, deputy conservator of forest of Baria range, he said.