A brave rescuer climbed down the steep walls of a well in northwestern India recently to save a wild civet that was trapped at the bottom.

Akash Jadhav from Animal Rescue Society responded to a call from locals on April 28 and travelled to the water source in Ahmednagar with his team.

The mission was fraught with danger because civets are ferocious with sharp teeth and claws.

Nawaz Shaikh descended the well in a harness and risked bites and scratches to catch the civet with his bare hands.

The animal was taken the surface and immediately released unharmed.

“There are many superstitions about civet cats. As there was a chance of someone harming it we had to rescue it immediately. Nawaz is brave and was up to the dangerous task,” said Jadhav.

A civet cat fell into an irrigation well at Ahmednagar district in Western India on April 28 while foraging for food.

Getting a call, Akash jadhav and team from Animal Rescue Society went to the spot to rescue the animal.

Civet cats need to be handled carefully as they come with sharp teeth and claws. They attack ferociously if they sense a threat and can deliver a nasty bite.

Team member Nawaz Shaikh went down the well with a harness and saw that the animal had climbed up a few feet and was precariously perched inside a crack in the stone wall of the well.

Using a net would have been clumsy and there was a risk of the cat falling back into the well. As it was getting dark, catching an agitated animal loose at the bottom of the well would have been very difficult.

So, Nawaz decided to catch the cat with his hands and without any protection. He grabbed the cat by its tail and climbed up holding it at a safe distance.

The animal fled as soon as it was released on the surface.

Akash said: “There are many superstitions about civet cats. As there was a chance of someone harming it we had to rescue it immediately. Nawaz is brave and was up to the dangerous task.”