KANNUR: Even though the special task force led by veterinary doctor Ajesh Mohan succeeded in taking out a leopard that fell into the well of a house under construction at South Aniyaram, near Panur on Wednesday, the animal died on the way to Wayanad.
It took around seven hours of strenuous efforts to tranquilize and rescue the leopard. The sedated leopard was shifted to a specially-made cage and was taken to Wayanad. However, on the way the leopard, which had struggled a lot in the well, succumbed.
It was on Wednesday morning that the residents of South Aniyaram found a leopard trapped inside the well. It was the +-neighbours of Malal Suni, the owner of the house, who spotted the leopard first.
On hearing the news, people gathered at the spot in large numbers and it created difficulties for the police, fire force and the animal rescue team, which reached the spot. Though a police team led by Chokli SI R S Renju tried to control the crowd, things went out of control as more people flowed to the spot on hearing the news.
Though another police team from Thalasserry too reached the spot, they could not do anything to take the leopard out of the well. Soon, forest officials too reached the spot.
As tense situation continued, a special task force from Wayanad led by veterinary surgeon Dr Ajesh Mohan Das reached the spot around 4 pm. They pumped out water from the well and lifted the leopard using a net. As the leopard reached half-way up, tranquilliser was used to sedate it.
“We have no idea as to how a leopard reached such a place as it is a densely populated area. It might have reached the area through the river ,” said DFO P Karthik. Meanwhile, the people of the region have become a bit scared as the leopard was found in a densely populated area.
The postmortem of the leopard will be held on Thursday at Wayanad, said DFO P Karthik.