What would you do if you saw a wild animal in desperate need of help? Would you come to its rescue? Well, that's precisely what a brave group of kind-hearted people did when they saw a leopard that had found itself in a dire situation.
In western Maharashtra, India, walkers were shocked when they came across a leopard that had fallen into a 70-foot-deep well. The terrified wild cat was struggling to keep its head above water and was roaring loudly.
The walkers immediately jumped into action and called upon a local farmer in the area and officials from Maharashtra Forest Department and Wildlife SOS to help free the leopard.
Footage captured at the scene shows the rescue team desperately trying to secure the animal into a trap cage lowered into the well and overcome several failed attempts to do so.
After some careful and creative manoeuvring, the exhausted leopard was loaded on the back of the Wildlife SOS rescue vehicle and transferred to the Leopard Rescue Centre for medical examination.
Maharashtra once had a healthy leopard population, but sadly, over the years, these majestic wild cats have slowly started declining in numbers due to human induced factors like habitat destruction, rapid urbanization, and encroachment of forest areas.
"We applaud the passionate team behind this extraordinary rescue, who never gave up and achieved what seemed impossible," said David Barritt of Network for Animals (NFA). "It's heart-warming outcomes like this that make animal rescue efforts so incredibly rewarding."
Featured image: WildlifeSOS
