A leopard fell into a 60-foot-deep well in an agricultural field in Gujarat's Dahod district and was rescued after a gruelling operation which lasted 44 hours.
The male leopard, aged around 3-4 years, was spotted inside the well by villagers on February 13 around 11 AM after which officials reached the spot and began the rescue operations, said Assistant Conservator of Forests Sunil Berwal.
"We found the leopard sitting on a ledge inside the well at about a depth of 25 feet. It fell into the well chasing a pig. As the well was about 60-foot-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 them. However, it continued to sit on the ledge for the whole day on February 13, the official added.
On February 14, the leopard was found to have fallen into the water. So we used two cots and lowered them into the well. It climbed on to one of the cots, Berwal said.
"After seeing the leopard shiver in the cold water, we allowed him to remain on the cot on February 14 during sunshine.
"Yesterday morning, we extended the length of the rope which was tied to the cot and started pulling it up slowly. As it came up, the leopard jumped and disappeared into the nearby forests," he said.
P A Vihol, Deputy conservator of Forest of Baria range, led the rescue operation.
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