A leopard dodged a watery grave after plunging into a deep well.

It managed to climb to safety a few feet above water using step-stones laid to help people go down the 45-feet circular well for maintenance work.

The leopard fell into the well on the night of November 20 when it strayed into a village near Rajapur in Maharashtra, India, in search of a meal.

A local man, who was passing by the well the next morning, spotted the leopard deftly perched like a bird on two small stones just above the water.

As the word spread a crowd quickly gathered to watch the animal.
A villager informed the forest officials, who rushed to the spot, and launched a difficult rescue operation. They lowered a ladder to help the leopard climb up right into a cage that had been placed on the edge of the well.

The leopard though in distress kept growling furiously and the forest officials had to use all their tricks to coax it to climb up.

Ramesh Patil of Ratnagiri said, “Though the forest officials are familiar with the rescue work, the leopard tested their patience and took nearly five hours to come up.”

“It was also incredibly lucky. It managed to find a step-stone and climb out of water in pitch darkness,” he added.

The leopard, a male of four to five years of age, was later released in a nearby forest.