A female leopard that had fallen into a well in Maharashtra state’s Ranjani Village was pulled out to safety in a three-hour operation by a team from Wildlife SOS’ Manekdoh Leopard Rescue Center. The incident happened last Tuesday.

As reported by the Times of India:

The leopard is currently being treated at the Wildlife SOS MLR Center. 

At 6am last Tuesday, villagers “turned on the motor pump to the village well, only to hear a loud, panicked roaring echoing sound from deep within the well. The villagers were shocked to find that a leopard was gasping for breath in the fifty-feet deep well, clinging desperately to an exposed pipe in an attempt to prevent itself from drowning.

“The villagers informed the forest department which in turn called in the rescue team from Wildlife SOS’ Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre. A four member rescue team led by the centre’s assistant manager, Mahendra Dhore Patil, was immediately dispatched to the site. No time was wasted and the rescue operations began immediately as time was quickly running out for the drowning animal.”