Woman veterinarian goes down well in cage, rescues trapped leopard

MANGALURU: In a daring operation, a woman veterinarian from Chitte Pili Wildlife Rescue Centre here rescued a leopard with the help of Forest Department personnel and locals at Niddodi village near Moodabidre in Dakshina Kannada on Monday.

The leopard was trapped in a 30-foot-deep well for 36 hours. After unsuccessfully trying various methods to trap the leopard in a cage, the Forest Department officials sought the help of the Chitte Pili Wildlife Rescue Centre.

The leopard fell into the 30-foot deep well was rescued on Monday.

Dr Meghana Pemmaiah, a veterinarian from the Chitte Pili Wildlife Rescue Centre, decided to go down the well herself to rescue the leopard. She sat in the cage equipped with a dart gun filled with anesthetic, and was lowered into the well. The leopard was hiding in a small space in the well. She darted the leopard, and, in the next 15 minutes, the animal went into a semi-conscious state. However, she was not able to haul the leopard into the cage by herself, and a young man went into the well and helped with it.

After the leopard was secured in the cage, both the veterinarian and the leopard were pulled out of the well. Later, the veterinarian gave another injection to the leopard.

Dr Meghana Pemmaiah, a wildlife veterinarian.

“On Monday, the Moodabidre Forest Department called us to rescue a leopard from the well. Our team includes Dr Yashaswi, Dr Prithvi and Dr Nafeesa. When we reached there, the Forest Department had prepared everything we needed. The leopard was hiding in a small space in the well, and it was not visible to us from the top. The only option was to go down and dart it. We assessed the situation, and I went down in the cage, darted it, and rescued it. The whole operation went of smoothly”, said Dr Meghana Pemmaiah, a wildlife veterinarian.