Tiger rescued from well, to be let off in the wild

NAGPUR - A tiger, which had fallen into a dry well near the Chameli forest area, was finally extricated Monday evening after a three-hour rescue operation, a wildlife official said.

The incident took place in an area about 40 km from here.

The tiger, a full grown adult around four years old, fell into the 40-feet-deep dry well, which was not protected by a wall, said Nitin Desai, Central India director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India.

“From preliminary information available, it was probably chasing some prey like deer or a wild boar and must have accidentally fallen into the well around dawn today. It spent around ten hours in the well without food or water,” Desai told IANS.

The animal’s plight was detected almost five hours later when some tribals and forest officials heard its roar and alerted police and wildlife officials, who then mounted a rescue operation.

Animal experts and a veterinary doctor reached the place around noon with a cage and the rescue operation was taken up. It took over three and a half hours to take out the big cat from the well.

When it was brought up, the tribals and officials erupted into a roar of applause and cheers for the dazed animal which appeared weak and shaken.

An examination revealed that the creature had not sustained any fractures or injuries despite falling from such a height.

Forest officials planned to release it back into the wild later, Desai added.

He said it was surprising that a tiger had strayed into this area which has never reported a sighting in the past many years since it is not a thick forest region.

Though it would take time to confirm, Desai guessed that the tiger may have strayed from either the Bor Wildlife Reserve in Wardha or Pench Wildlife Reserve near Nagpur.