PUNE: Two male leopards were rescued from a 50 feet deep well by officials of Wildlife SOS and Otur Forest Department on Friday. The duo fell in an uncovered well near Bhatkalwadi village in Otur (Junnar taluka). The locals had alerted the Forest Department, who in turn called the Wildlife SOS team that manages the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre in Junnar.
While the Wildlife SOS team drove nearly 50 kilometres to reach the location, a team of forest officers rushed to the village to assess the situation. The leopards had perched themselves on an elevated ledge to avoid drowning in the water.
Once the team arrived at the scene, they carefully extricated the distressed felines one after the other, with the help of trap cages. The entire operation lasted almost three hours after which both leopards were taken to the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre for observation and treatment.
Dr Ajay Deshmukh, Senior Veterinary Officer at the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre, said, “The leopards are approximately 7 to 8 years old. They bear wounds from their earlier scuffle, but we have not detected any internal injuries. They are both exhausted and in severe shock because of the ordeal and will be kept under observation for a few days till they are deemed fit for release.”
Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO, Wildlife SOS, said, “The entire exercise had to be quickly executed with painstaking care. We are grateful to the forest department for making this rescue a success and for helping manage the crowd.”
Speaking about the rescue operation, Bapu Yele, Range Forest Officer of Otur, said, “Wildlife SOS plays a key role in helping the Forest department to mitigate man-leopard conflict in the region and help wild animals in distress. We are extremely grateful to the team for their cooperation.”
