June 25, 2023
A video of a group of kind-hearted villagers rescuing a fully-grown wild leopard trapped inside a deep well in a village in the Indian state of Karnataka has broken the Internet.
As the big cat fell into the water well, people approached the scene and helped the predator come out and go back to its natural habitat, but in a unique and unusual way.
The video was shared on Twitter by a person named Sahana Singh with the caption: "A leopard fell into a well and even when a ladder was offered, it was cowering inside."
As the residents and other people brought the ladder to rescue the large cat, it became scared so they found a way to bring it out by a long stick with fire lit on it, with the user calling it a "jugaad".
The people then budged the big cat and soon after that, the cat came outside the well. As it came out, the villagers rejoiced.
The video caption also read: "So they put a stick of fire near his bum which forced him to climb the scaffolding [and] run away into the jungle. How they rejoice! Man, Nature & Jugaad."
Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Sudha Ramen while commenting on the video, wrote: "Every rescue operation is unique and has its complexities that vary with the species of the animal involved, availability of resources, location, infrastructure and many more. Good team [and] presence of mind works well. Forest staff are experienced in handling such situations."
The video was widely shared and viewed with at least more than one lac views on it.