While it is not uncommon to hear about leopard cubs being reunited with their kin after straying into sugarcane fields during harvest season, a three-month-old cub that had fallen into a well near Pune was brought back to its mother in an unusual operation on Thursday night. Remarkably, the operation—which was carried out by RESQ Charitable Trust, an animal rescue centre, and the Pune forest department—was carried out in about four hours.

The assistant conservator of forest (ACF) from the Pune forest department informed Neha Panchamiya, founder and president of RESQ Charitable Trust, about the incident around 3.30 pm, after which a team swung into action and immediately reached the spot with Forest Official Anil Rathod from the forest department.

Panchamiya said, “After reaching the site, the team deployed a trap cage to ensure the safe extraction of the cub. Around 5.30 pm, the cub was safely rescued after which Dr Purva Nimkar checked it for any injuries, but luckily, it was completely fine so the teams decided to conduct a manual reunion.”

By 7.30 pm, the mother’s pugmarks were tracked and the reunion site was set up a few metres away from the well. The teams faced several challenges while reuniting the felines. the manual operation of the trap’s pulley system had to be done on the ground as it was not possible to park a vehicle in the vicinity. The team also had to camouflage and station themselves about 800 metres away from the action, keenly observing the cub and cage door through remote cameras to see if the mother had arrived.

“The cub, which was understandably restless and anxious, was monitored until the mother was spotted nearby around 8 pm. With utmost care and precision, the RESQ team opened the trap cage, allowing for a heart-warming reunion between the cub and its mother,” said Panchamiya.

5.30 pm
Time on Thursday when cub was rescued

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