A leopard which was trapped inside a well in Vythiri in Kerala's Wayanad district was rescued after more than a four-hour operation. According to reports from Wayanad, the leopard which had been crossing the area, had fallen into the household well, inside the property of Gopi, a resident of Vattavayal in Vythiri.
At around 12:30 am on Friday, residents of the house noticed that the leopard had been trapped inside the well. On Friday morning, the cat was tranquilized with a shotgun and then drawn up from the well with a net – an operation that lasted four-and-a-half hours.
Visuals captured from the area show several crowds thronging to catch a glimpse of the wild cat when it was captured by 11 am on Friday. Soon after the rescue efforts, the leopard was taken to an undisclosed location in a Forest Department vehicle. The animal will be thoroughly checked for injuries, given adequate treatment and then freed into the forest based on its condition. According to local media which got in touch with the Forest Department, the leopard had not sustained any injuries and will be released into the wild soon.
Forest areas including Wayanad and Kannur-Karnataka borders have reported frequent man-animal conflicts with wild animals getting trapped in human inhabitations. In June 2019, a wild elephant calf slipped and fell into a dry well in Kannur's Chandanakampara. With the help of forest department officials, residents of Shimoga Colony in Chandanakampara finally rescued the elephant calf after demolishing one side of the wall of the well.
According to the Forest Department officials, the trapped calf was part of a herd of wild elephants that crossed the colony in the night. The elephant walked on top of the well which was covered with a concrete slab. The slab broke under its weight leading to the elephant falling into the well.