A six-year-old male leopard was rescued after it fell into an open well at Thalappuzha in Wayanad district on Friday.
The leopard is believed to have fallen into the well on a property belonging to Jose of Mothedath at Puthiydathu near Thalappuzha under the North Wayanad Forest Division late on Thursday night or in the early hours of Friday.
After noticing that the animal had fallen into the well, Jose intimated Forest officials. Subsequently, a team of Forest personnel led by North Wayanad Divisional Forest Officer Martin Lowel rushed to the spot and began efforts to rescue the leopard.
They emptied the water in the well prior to saving the animal. Finally, they managed to rescue it using a net and rope.
The animal was later shifted to a cage. As many as 40 Forest personnel, including staff of the rapid response team of the department, took part in the rescue operation, Mr. Lowel told The Hindu. “Usually in such situations, the animal is sedated by darting tranquillisers prior to rescue operations. But since the animal was weak, we decided to rescue it using rope and a net,” he said.
Officials are closely monitoring the movement of the feline, and if necessary, the animal will be shifted to the animal hospice and palliative care unit for big cats at Sulthan Bathery. Otherwise, it will be released back into the wild, Mr. Lowell said.
