A leopard slipped into a well with its prey, a hen, at the Ingdong tea estate in the Meteli block of Jalpaiguri district on Friday.
Sources reported that the animal wandered into the workers’ quarters early in the morning. At Shuknath Goyala’s house, it jumped to reach a chicken coop built over
the well.
“The animal seems to have leapt and managed to grab a hen. However, after clutching the bird, the leopard fell straight down into the well along with the hen,” said
a source.
The growls of the leopard jolted Goyala awake around 4am. “At first, he thought it was just a dog fight, but when he went out to investigate, he realised a leopard was stuck in his backyard,” said a source.
“It was frightening, but also strange to see it trapped. The whole garden gathered near my house,” Shuknath said.
Many from the garden gathered there throughout the day, recording videos and taking photographs of the trapped leopard.
The tea estate authorities informed the wildlife squad stationed at Khunia, and a rescue team was deployed.
Sajal Kumar De, a ranger in the forest department, said that the well was quite deep, making the operation tricky. “We first lowered a wooden platform into the well to give the animal some footing. Then we fired a tranquiliser dart and finally hauled it up using a net. The leopard was exhausted but safe,” he said.
The animal was taken to Gorumara forest for medical examination. Forest officers said that it would be released into the wild after treatment.
Sources said the incident highlighted how shrinking forest cover around tea estates has increased the instances of leopards straying into human settlements.
Although none were hurt during the incident, forest officers reiterated the need for caution when dealing with animals.
“People must remember that a leopard is a wild predator. One wrong move could have led to disaster,” said a forest official.