Woman veterinarian sits in cage, rescues leopard from 25ft well in 2-hour operation in Mangaluru

MANGALURU: Armed with a gun, darts and oodles of daredevilry, a woman veterinarian sat inside a cage that was lowered into a 25-foot-deep well, sedated a leopard stuck for 36 hours and pulled the animal into the same cage in a dramatic two-hour rescue operation in Dakshina Kannada district on Sunday.
The incident took place near a house in Niddodi off Kateel, about 35km from Mangaluru. When the forest department couldn't rescue the one-year-old leopard after several attempts over two days, it summoned the help of Chitte Pilli, a wildlife rescue and research centre in Mangaluru.
The rescue team of Chitte Pilli included the veterinarian-couple Dr Meghana Pemmaiah and Dr Yashaswi Naravi, and experts Prithvi Salian and Nafisa Kousar.
Well aware of the perils of the job, Dr Meghana, 31, decided to take the plunge "due to adrenaline rush".
The veterinarian told TOI: "We had to keep many factors in mind: The leopard was starved and dehydrated for nearly two days; we couldn't get her clear image from above; the forest department had tried to rescue her with ladders and a cage. More important, the leopard was in a cosy spot and not willing to come out."
Dr Meghana said she was confident the cage was secure enough and the leopard couldn't attack her. "We knew we had just one chance. Once the cage was lowered, I realized I was lucky since the leopard was sitting in a good position for me to dart. Though she was continuously growling, I immediately loaded the injection and went for the first shot. I was lucky again that in the next 15 minutes the leopard was sedated."
What was achieved was only a part of the job. Then she tried to haul the leopard into the cage. "When I failed, a local youth climbed down and helped me in getting the leopard into the cage. After he went back, I was pulled out of the well in the cage along with the leopard. It feels good we rescued her in our first attempt and it was a well-coordinated effort with forest officials and locals."
Her husband Dr Yashaswi told TOI the forest department called the rescue centre around 9.30am on Sunday. The department had the guns for darting and made all arrangements. "The leopard was aggressive and tried to attack when attempts were made to pump out the water," he added.
Watch On cam: Woman veterinarian rescues leopard from 25-ft well