Villagers Risk their Lives to Rescue Leopard Stuck in Well

What would you do if you find a large predator trapped and in need of help? Would you try to free the animal and risk your life being attacked by the same animal that you freed?

Most people would not dare come close to the trapped predator. Luckily for this trapped young leopard, the villagers and forest officials of Mudrady, Udupi, Karnataka, India are not most people. These brave people worked together to free the young leapord (about 3 years old) that fell into a well.

Using makeshift ladder, nets and ropes these group of patient and brave people successfully rescued the young predator. The injured leopard was taken to medical facility and released to the wild after its treatment.

The cub got lucky because the villagers didn’t let their fear stop them from rescuing the leopard.

See video at the end

Physical Characteristics of Leopards

Basically, leopards are big cats that are indigenous to the African safari. They have these golden and spotted bodies which helps them hide from plain sight from their preys. They are known to be graceful, yet they are ferocious when it comes to hunting.

They usually grow from 3 to 6.2 feet long, which makes them the smallest members of the large cat category. Male leopards usually weigh around 80 to 165 pounds while females are only 46 to 132 pounds.

Leopards are also very adaptable to their environment, that is why their species are spread across the globe such as the sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, southwestern and eastern Turkey, in the Sinai/Judean Desert of Southwest Asia, the Himalayan foothills, India, Russia, China and the islands of Java and Sri Lanka, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

These deadly felines can live in any type of habitats, including rainforests, deserts, woodlands, grassland savannas, forests, mountain habitats, coastal scrubs, shrub lands and swampy areas.

Meanwhile, their diet mostly consists of small hoofstocks such as gazelle, impala, deer and wildebeast. If available, they also hunt monkeys, rodents and birds. Their habit is to bring their prey up into the branches of a tree, and eat it in solitude to protect it from other predators and scavengers lurking in the area.

Interesting Facts About Leopard

Leopards have amazing agility. They can run at the speed of 36 miles per hour, leap with a distance of over 20 feet, and jump vertically up to 10 feet. Amazing for an animal with long body, with relatively short legs and broad head.

Their irregular spots in their tawny coat are called “rosettes”.

To prevent lions and hyenas from taking away their bounty, they usually stock their kills in trees.

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A leopard can deliver up to six cubs after a 90 to 105 days of gestation. The average kitten weighs about a pond when they are born, and they will stay under the nurture of their mother for only 18 to 24 months.

For a span of eight weeks the mother leopard hides her cubs under her protection. She feeds them meet for six to seven weeks, while they suckle on her for at least three months.

Leopards can also be treated as a prey. They were hunted for their fur that are usually used to produce ceremonial robes and coats.

They are considered to be nocturnal, as they do their hunting at night. During the day, they rest in think bushes or climb up a tree in solitary.

Despite the fact that cats are afraid of the water, leopards are agile swimmers

During hunting, this large cat stalks its prey while hiding behind the grasses or bushes until it is close enough to spring for the attack. When it isn’t on hunting mode, it flips over its tail to reveal the white underside — a sign that it is no longer seeking for a prey — and it is then when they can stroll peacefully with the herds of antelope who are not alarmed by the presence of the predator.

While living in solitude, leopards usually mark their territories with their urine and claw marks on trees to warn other leopards to stay out of their way. Unexpected presence of another of their kind leads to fights usually.

On arrival, they announce their presence to other leopards with a rasping or sawing cough. On the other hand, leopards growl with a screaming roar when angry, and purr when they are content.