Udupi, August 21: The forest officials rescued a 3 year old Leoprard which had accidently fallen into a well and let it free in the forest. The incident took place on Thursday at Irmady Sorpu close to Havanje.
Overview:The leopard had fallen into a well of Balakrishna Poojary close to his house at at Irmady Sorpu near Havanje. On Wednesday night, the family heard a big sound but they supposed it to be a tree fallen close to their area due to wind and rain. On Thursday morning, when the household came to the well to fetch water, they were frightened to notice the Leopard in the well. The people of the concerned house intimated this to the forest department close by and the message was sent to the higher authorities.
2 Hours Operation: Around 9a.m the forest officials tried on various methods to remove the Leopard out of the well. Later, they thought of erecting a ladder into the well and free the Leopard but the locals opposed this idea. A cage was then brought from Aarur and it was let into the well using ropes and they tried to make the leopard enter into the cage. After struggling for two hours, the leopard finally entered into the cage which was then removed out and the forest officials let it free at Kudremukh National Park.
By forcing to remove the Lepoard using a cage the villagers had an argument with the forest officer G.S.Kothari and hence the venue appeared noisy for some time. But with the intervention of local leaders, the situation calmed down.
Angry Villagers: The villagers revealing their problem to the media stated that, Irmady is a forest area and few locals have seen the Cheetah in this area. Due to this the children are feeling scared to go to school. The matter has been brought to the notice of the forest officials, yet there is no response. The wild animals are causing great menace and the rice crop is completely spoilt by the Deers and Wild buffalos. Due to Cheetas, the cows and dogs reared at home go missing. When this issue is brought into the notice of the forest Officials, they are withdrawing themselves stating that there is a need of anesthesia specialists. Due to the wild animals, the locals are scared to move in this area.
In the operation, Forest Officials H.D.Pana, Manju Ganiga, Santhosh Jogi, Prabhath Kumar, K.Harish, Jeevan shetty, Chandrakanth and the locals were present.
