Story By: Alex Cope,Sub Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Asia Wire Report

This is the moment a leopard that fell into a 50-foot well while staking out a goat farm has been rescued after being carefully coaxed into a cage.

The startling rescue took place in the village of Pimpalgaon Rotha in the Ahmednagar district of the Indian state of Maharashtra after villagers spotted the big cat at the bottom of the well.

Forest official Kailas Rokade says the villagers immediately alerted his colleagues and him to the leopard’s presence and they rushed to the scene as the locals thought the animal might drown.

Reports state the leopard (Panthera pardus) had been clinging into a pipe to prevent itself from drowning.

In the video, the seven-year-old female leopard can be seen stood on a fibre-plastic platform that the rescuers had lowered into the well to allow it to rest.

A cage is then lowered into the well and the leopard steps into it before it is lifted to safety.

The veterinarian who attended the scene, Ajay Deshmukh, said they did not consider tranquillising the animal when it was in the well as it could have drowned.

Deshmukh confirmed that the animal was not treated as it was healthy and was released back into the wild.

Forest official Rokade said the animal could have been attracted to the area where the well is situated as there is a goat farm nearby.

Picture Credit: AsiaWire/Wildlife S.O.S