Leopard rescued from Junagadh well

01-11-2009
Leopard rescued from Junagadh well
Times of India
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A leopard was rescued from a farmer's well in Vanthali in Junagadh district on Saturday at noon. The big cat was tranquilized and pulled out of the well with a rope.
 
The well was not open, but its parapet was not more than one-and-a-half-ft high. The animal might have fallen into the well at night. According to the district forest officer (DFO) of social forestry J P Vasava, the leopard was rescued by a Sakkarbaug Zoo team and the forest department.

In the morning, a farmer from Vanthali reported to the forest department that a leopard had fallen into a well on his farm on Manavadar Road. Vasava immediately informed Sakkarbaug Zoo authorities and a team was sent to the farm.


As a large number of villagers had gathered, Vanthali police were called in to disperse the crowd.

Vasava said the cat was around nine-years-old. It has been sent to the zoo and after a proper check-up, it will be set free in the jungle.
 
As per an animal census done in 2001, there were 311 leopards in the Gir forest area. Man animal conflicts are not new in this area. On September 26, a leopard attacked the nine-year-old daughter of a farm labourer in Ramgarh village in Savarkundla taluka of Amreli district. Surprisingly, six months ago leopards were seen in Vasavad and Gondal area of Rajkot district.