Recently, the rescue of a leopard in Madhya Pradesh had been flashed across social media, where several teams coordinated together to rescue a cub that had got entangled between two trees and was stuck for a long period of time without food and water. This happened in the Betul district and the rescue operation was praised by netizens for the sincere efforts put in by everyone involved to help the animal in distress.
In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, IFS officer Vejaynantham TR, the DFO of South Betul, Madhya Pradesh, who led the rescue, shared details about the operation.
INFORMATION RECEIVED
Around 7:30 am on the morning of 31 August, while a forest patrolling team of Mowad was scanning the area, they found a leopard cub, aged between 1-1.5 years, caught between two trees in a way that he was stuck and not able to move, in the Amla region of Betul district. Almost immediately, the staff contacted DFO Vejaynantham and told him about it.
“I received a call from the forest guard who told me about the leopard who was entangled between crooked trees. Because that location is deep inside the forest, there was no signal available to them. They left behind 2-3 forest watchers there, who stood guard in the remote jungle in the rain, to stop feral dogs from attacking the leopard. They shared the leopard’s photos with me and I understood that we need to rescue him quickly,” he told Indian Masterminds.
RESCUE OPERATION BEGINS
Without wasting any time, he immediately sent his rangers and rescue teams to seal the area to make sure that no public comes near the leopard. The rangers confirmed that the leopard’s entanglement in the trees seemed like a natural affair as his body was active.
Mr. Vejaynantham contacted the Field Director of the Satpura Tiger Reserve team and requested him to send their rescue operations team to the location as well. By 3 pm, all the rescue teams reached the location with the necessary equipment for the operation.
“We had to rescue the leopard as soon as possible since it was stuck in rain, tired and dehydrated, and we had no idea for how long he had been stuck there. He was alive at that moment and we wanted him to survive. Initially, we thought of capturing the leopard without tranquilizing it but it was already very scared and our physical presence near him made him even more uncomfortable. We did not wish to scare it more, so we decided to tranquilize him,” the officer said.
Once the animal was in an unconscious state, the rescue teams set to work and soon discovered that the leopard’s back was completely paralyzed. After freeing him from the entanglement, the officials carried him to the rescue van and tried to revive him.
SUPPORT FROM AIR FORCE STATION
While the leopard’s rescue operation was still in progress, Mr. Vejaynantham received a call from local staff who informed him about an ammunition demolition ground of Air Force, Amla, nearby. The officer realized that the ammunition demolition will have to be stopped as its loud noise would further scare the leopard and he would get even more entangled.
“I called them to stop the blasting for the day so that the leopard doesn’t get scared. They also understood the situation and suspended it for a day. They visited the location and witnessed the rescue operation as well,” he told Indian Masterminds.
SUCCESSFUL RESCUE
After a lot of effort and hard work, the leopard was finally rescued at 5:30 pm. They were a little doubtful of its survival as it was already dehydrated and they didn’t know when it last ate anything.
“To our luck, the leopard returned to consciousness within 10-15 minutes of rescuing. Those few minutes were full of anticipation and adrenaline filled us, as nobody knew what the outcome would be and whether the animal would be able to withstand the medicine doses and fatigue. We were thrilled to see him regain consciousness,” Mr. Vejaynantham shared.
He then spoke with the Director of Van Vibhag, Bhopal, and NPCC Wildlife who suggested he send the leopard to Bhopal for its surgery and treatment. The animal was successfully transported to Bhopal and its treatment was initiated.
“It was a great learning experience for me to lead the entire operation and coordinate between various authorities at the district level, Air Force, and senior officers in Bhopal for a successful rescue, safe transportation, and on-time treatment of the leopard,” Mr. Vejaynantham said.
He believes that the leopard might have gotten entangled between the trees as a result of falling from a tree while trying to catch monkeys or langoors sitting on it. Since, leopards are very curious by nature, just like house and feral cats, they try navigating different areas which sometimes lands them in trouble. The good news is, that the big cat is now healing and is on its way to recovery and rehabilitation, and, perhaps, freedom.
