Two leopards were rescued on Friday from the bottom of a 50-foot well in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

The adult males were believed to have fallen into the water source near Bhatkalwadi village in Ottur as they fought for control of the surrounding territory.

The charity Wildlife SOS worked alongside the Forest Department for three hours to coax the cats into a crate and then haul them to safety with ropes.

Both felines were under observation at the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre.

“The leopards are approximately 7 to 8 years old," said Dr. Ajay Deshmukh, Senior Veterinary Officer at the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre.

"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,” he added.

Wildlife SOS blamed "the startling rate of habitat encroachment" for forcing the normally "elusive" cats to approach human settlements.

Turf war leads to leopard falling into a 50 foot deep well in India.

A territorial feud between two adult male leopards resulted in a rather unfortunate situation, as they both fell victim to an uncovered 50-foot deep well near Bhatkalwadi village in Ottur, Maharashtra. The 3-hour long rescue operation was carried out by Wildlife SOS & the Forest Department. Both leopards are currently under observation at the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Center.

In an unexpected turn of events, two male leopards found themselves on the verge of drowning in a 50-foot-deep open well in Bhatkalwadi village located in Ottur district, on Friday morning. Being highly territorial animals, the two dominant males had earlier got into a turf dispute. The villagers were shocked to wake up to their distressed roars echoing from the well, near the sugarcane fields. Fearing that they may not survive much longer in the waist deep water, the locals immediately alerted the forest department who in turn called the Wildlife SOS team that manages the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Center 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, but time was running out fast. Once the team arrived at the scene, they carefully extricated the distressed felines one after the other, with the help of trap cages. Meanwhile, the Forest Department managed the crowd of curious onlookers that were milling about, to prevent any unnecessary panic or resultant mishaps. Rescues like this one can be exceptionally nerve-wracking as both the safety of the public and the animal needs to be kept in mind. The entire operation lasted almost three hours after which both leopards were taken to the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre for observation and any required 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 & 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. The startling increasing rate of habitat encroachment has resulted in decreasing prey base, territory and water sources for predator species like leopards that are then forced to come out into human habitation. Since these elusive cats usually prefer to move around at night, it is common for them to fall victim to uncovered wells.”

It has been quite an action-packed week for Wildlife SOS, as the team earlier rescued a 3-year-old leopard from a deadly jaw trap and also successfully reunited a 9-week-old leopard cub with its mother.

Mr. Bapu Yele, Range Forest Officer, Ottur, said, “We appreciate the past work done by Wildlife SOS in the region, so we immediately reached out to their team. The NGO plays a key role in helping the Forest department to mitigate man-leopard conflict in the region and helping wild animals in distress. We are extremely grateful to the team for their cooperation.”

You can sign Wildlife SOS’ on-going petition asking concerned authorities to fence areas around open wells or cover them so that the lives of many innocent animals and people can be saved here: https://bit.ly/2rbr7Kl


For more information & pics, contact Arinita Ph. 9560011875 – email news@wildlifesos.org
Wildlife SOS (WSOS) is a non-profit charity established in 1998 with the primary objective of rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife in distress across India. We actively run wildlife and nature protection projects to promote conservation, combat poaching & illegal wildlife trade. We also work in partnership with the Government and indigenous communities to create sustainable, alternate livelihoods for erstwhile poacher communities.