Two bears cubs were rescued by forest officials from a well in Telangana's Karimnagar district on Thursday. The forest range officer, Karimnagar, along with his staff, rescued the four-month-old cubs which had fallen into the agricultural well in Gattubuthkur village.
The roughly 70-feet-deep well was not having much water and officials suspect it had an overgrowth of plants on the side, which cushioned the fall of the cubs and also ensured that they did not drown at the bottom.
Officials of the Forest Department used three ladders and other items like nets to enter the well and take the cubs out successfully. Officials said that after feeding the cubs and keeping them under their watch for some time, they were released into the nearby forest.
“After getting them out of the well, we fed them with some fruits. As it was hot in the afternoon, we made sure they stayed in the shade under a tree for a while after they fed. We later released them some distance away from the well in the direction from where their mother was calling,” Karimnagar Forest Range Officer T Srinivas was quoted as saying.
The staff had to be cautious as the mother of the cub was also found roaming nearby. Officials said that they found pug marks of the mother bear, which suggested that she stayed close to the well for a while after the cubs fell in and likely went away when locals approached the area on Thursday morning.
While bears in Karimnagar district straying into human habitat is a rare occurrence, it is not unheard of.
In September last year, a sloth bear entered the BSNL office in Karimnagar town, resulting in chaos. Officials from the Forest Department then reached the spot, tranquilised the animal and later released it in the forests near Mancherial.