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Lioness rescued from well

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Press Trust of India Vadodara
A lioness was rescued from a well near a village in Gir Somnath district this morning by a team of Gujarat Forest Department officials.

The lioness had fallen into the 60-feet deep well, which had very low water level, in a farmland in Girgidhda village, about 300 km from here.

The farmer who owns the field heard the trapped animal's roar and informed the Forest Department, which dispatched a rescue team.

"Our team rushed to the spot and rescued the lioness after a 90-minute operation," Anshuman Sharma, Deputy Conservator of Forest, told PTI by phone.

A large crowd had gathered at the spot to see the rescue operation.
 

A team of veterinary doctors was examining whether the animal had suffered any injury. The lioness will be released in the Gir forests once it is ascertained that the animal is fine, he said.

It was not known how she fell into the well. Usually, such incidents happen when a wild animal is chasing a prey, Sharma said.

Sasan Gir forest, a part of which also falls in Amreli district, is the last abode of Asiatic lions. As per the 2010 Census, the forest houses 411 lions.

This is the second such incident this week. On Thursday, forest officials rescued a two-month-old lion cub from a well near Moti-Barman village in Amreli.

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First Published: May 31 2014 | 12:36 PM IST

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