A snarling jackal was rescued after it fell into a 120-feet-deep well in Ahmednagar, western India.

A rescue team were alerted after a farmer had noticed the animal had become trapped in the deep pit on June 29.

Kamlesh Gunjal was lowered into the well and managed to grab the jackal, placing it into a bag.

The bag was then hoisted up to the surface before Gunjal managed to climb back up.

The jackal was then released after the successful rescue.

Akash Jadhav, leader of the rescue team, said: "We had to do something drastic to pull out the animal quickly. What Kamlesh did was very brave. He risked serious injury to save wildlife.”

This was the moment a frightened and growling jackal almost sunk its teeth into a wildlife official trying to rescue it inside a 120-feet deep well near Ahmednagar in western India.

A farmer noticed that a jackal had fallen into his well on June 29 afternoon and made a call to the Animal Rescue Society.

Akash Jadhav and team went to the spot to rescue the animal, which was totally stressed out after surviving the fall into the well.

First, team member Hrishikesh Pardesi went down the well with the help of a harness and tried to rescue the animal from a safe distance.

The team quickly realised that it would be difficult for him to reach out to the animal, which was quivering at a corner refusing to budge. It was also late afternoon and they knew rescue would become an ordeal once skies darkened.

As time was running out, another rescuer Kamlesh Gunjal decided on a drastic course of action and went down the well to grab the jackal with his bare hands.

The animal was initially quiet when he touched it, but as he tried to grab its neck, it fought back and almost bit him. Kamlesh pressed on bravely, grappling with the animal, and managed to put it in a gunny sack.

As it was pulled up and released, the jackal ran away without looking back.

Akash said: “We had to do something drastic to pull out the animal quickly. What Kamlesh did was very brave. He risked serious injury to save wildlife.”