In a rare incident, villagers who generally are wary of leopards helped one of them stuck in a well. This incident transpired last week on Thursday (September 30) in Narayanwadi which is located in district Pune’s Junnar division in Maharashtra.

Hearing a rumbling sound on Thursday night, the inquisitive villagers stepped out to investigate and found that the noise was coming from a well. On checking the well which was nearly 35 feet deep, they were in for a shock as they saw a leopard stuck inside.

Concerned about the animal’s well-being, the residents immediately contacted the Forest Department. Following this the Wildlife SOS which operates out of Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre was also contacted.

Meanwhile seeing the plight of the animal and to ensure that it does not drown, a team of village rescuers trained by Wildlife SOS and the Forest department, decided to lower a metal frame into the well. The animal was quick to grasp the idea behind this, and was much relieved to move to the frame.

The four-member Wildlife SOS team along with the Forest department staff, who arrived on the scene later, lowered a trap cage down the well to rescue the leopard. Once the beleaguered leopard leaped into the cage, it was pulled up and moved to safety to the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre for necessary medical observation.

The rescue operation lasted two hours.

The four-year-old male leopard was kept under observation for a few days and later released into the wild. Dr. Nikhil Bangar, Wildlife Veterinary Officer, Wildlife SOS said: “The leopard recuperated from this stressful ordeal. Fortunately, he had not sustained any severe injuries and was safely released back into the wild.”

The Range Forest Officer of the region, Ajit Shinde observed: “The expansive sugarcane fields make Narayanwadi a leopard-prone area. Leopards often come here to hunt and unintentionally fall into these open wells.”

Wildlife SOS, Kartick Satyanarayan pointing out that the open wells were a constant threat to the leopards said, “Unsuspecting animals fall into these wells and gravely injure themselves or sometimes even die due to drowning, starvation, or injuries. We are grateful to the village rescue team that acted promptly and alerted concerned authorities.”

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