NILGIRIS: After three hours of struggle, a forest team from Kotagiri forest range in the Nilgiris forest division successfully rescued two sloth bears (mother and cub) that fell into a well at Thumbur village near Aravenu on Saturday afternoon.
Locals informed Kotagiri forest range officials at 11 am on Saturday, after they heard noises of the sloth bears stumbling into the well. The animals while roaming through tea plantations, had slipped into the well through a two-foot gap.
Subsequently, two huge ladders were conjoined and placed inside the well to facilitate animals to come out, but the animals slipped again.
The staff were holding the ladder to facilitate the animals to climb onto the ladder
“We waited close to three hours for the animals to come out on their own as placing ladders and allowing them to come out was the best method to rescue them without harm as there was only a two-foot gap in the well, which was covered using concrete.
Barring some bruises, the bears did not face major injuries and we have released the animals to the forest away from human habitation,” a forest department official said. “The mother bear held on to the cub and attempted to climb the ladder and slipped into the well. After four attempts, both animals came out.”
Meanwhile, a 10-year-old female sloth bear died due to age-related ailments at Alakkarai in Kattabetru forest range on Friday. The postmortem carried out on Saturday revealed that the animal died due to age related ailments