A male leopard that fell into an open well in a private property at Pozhuthana in Wayanad district on Monday was rescued by personnel of the Forset Department
Shrawan Kumar Verma, Chief Conservator of Forest, Northern circle (Kannur), told The Hindu that the property belonged to Haneefa of Puthan Purakkal. His wife, Haneefa, found the wild cat in the well on Monday morning.
Local people who reached spot alerted the Forest officials.
Personnel of the Forest Department, South Wayanad Forest Division, with the assistance of the police and Fire and Rescue Services used a net attached to a lifebuoy and a ring-shaped device that floats in water which prevents a person from drowning to rescue the animal, Mr. Verma said.
‘Many a time in similar rescue operations we resort to tranquillizer shots, but we could manage to rescue the animal without a single dart of tranquillizer, he said.
The young feline, aged about seven, was healthy and bore no signs of injuries occurred during the fall or rescue operations, Mr. Verma added.
The animal was released in Wayanad wildlife Sanctuary in the evening after a medical team led by Forest veterinarian Arun Zachariah examined the wild cat and found it healthy, Mr. Verma added.
The police had a difficult time controlling the crowd that thronged the hamlet from morning and normalcy was restored only after the animal was shifted from the locality.
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