Six-year-old Sambar, civet cat rescued from wells in Maharashtra

A six-year-old Sambar deer and a civet cat have been rescued from deep wells in separate incidents in Maharashtra, a wildlife NGO said Friday.

The deer, nearly six-year-old was recently rescued from a 25-ft-deep well by the staff of the Maharashtra Forest Department and five-member Wildlife SOS team at Vanewadi, located near Junnar area in the state, the NGO said.

The terrified animal was first "mildly tranquillised" and then safely extricated from the well with the help of a harness, the NGO said in a statement.

The rescue operation took almost two hours. The adult antelope was deemed medically fit to be released back into the natural habitat.

Ajay Deshmukh, Senior Veterinary Officer at the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre said, "The 6-year-old Sambar deer was a male and was distressed in its struggle to stay afloat. Thankfully, the deer displayed no external injuries."