A cheetah that fell into a deep well was rescued using a bamboo chair in south India on November 12.

The leopard wandered into the village of Kothagiri in Nilgris district, Tamil Nadu on the night of November 11, but fell into a deep well as it did not notice the well in the dark.

Locals discovered the big cat the following day and immediately informed the forest department staffs. They rushed to the spot and initially tried to tranquilise the big cat and rescue it, however this was aborted due to concern of side-effects.

Eventually a bamboo chair tied on a rope was lowered inside the well, and the cheetah was funnelled into a cage on the surface, allowing it to be safely caught and transported back to the wild.

Cheetah that fell into a deep well was rescued using a bamboo chair in South India.

Location: Kothagiri, Nilgris district of Tamilnadu state in South India.

Wild animals often venture into human habitations in this area as it is close to the western ghats a continuous mountain range. Likewise this cheetah came to the town in search of food and water. Unfortunately it fell in the deep well as it did not notice the well in the dark. The following day people continued with their routine works. But the passer-by of the well heard some roaring noise of an animal. They peeped into the well and found a cheetah inside.

They immediately informed the forest department staffs. They rushed to the spot and tried to tranquilise the big cat and rescue it. But the plan was left as it may give side effects to the animal.

So they sent a bamboo chair tied on a rope inside the well. The cheetah climbed on the chair and sat quietly on the chair. Then a cage was brought and kept on one side of the well and apart from the cage rest of the open well was covered completely with net. So that when the cheetah comes out it has no other way than to enter into the cage.

The rope was pulled out and as expected the cheetah went inside the cage. The forest officials took away the cage to release the animal in the wild jungle. The rescue operation took hours but still people lauded the innovative effort used by the forest department staff when catching the animal.