Bears fall into a well in India and are rescued

Story by Sagaya Fernando
Mumbai: February 21, 2018

With the onset of summer and depletion of water sources in the forests, wild animals have started straying into human habitations in search of food and water to quench their hunger and thirst pangs. However, unbeknownst to them, danger lurks at every corner -- not only human threat but also man-made hazards.

Two wild bears – one female and a male – that had strayed into a farm in Yarehalli village in Ramanagaram district of Karnataka state in India, found themselves in such a predicament when they fell into a dry well and had to be rescued by the forest department officials.

“The two bears which had strayed from their natural habitat on February 16 and had accidentally fallen into 9 metres (30 feet) deep dry well,” said Dr. Umashankar, a veterinarian with the forest department.

The incident came to light at 3 am on February 17 when the villagers heard grunting noises from the well and found two adult bears inside. They then informed the forest department officials who came and assessed the situation, after which took a decision to tranquilize the bears before bringing them out.

The rescue operation took about three hours as the bears had to be tranquilized and then lifted out of the well using thick nets.

While the female bear was lifted out without any hitch, the sedated male bear slipped back into the well. And, in the next attempt was taken out safely.

The local villagers assisted the forest department staff in the rescue mission. The rescued bears were then moved to Bannerghatta Wildlife Sanctuary.

“The wild animals are facing water scarcity in their habitat as the rivulets and waterholes are drying up. As such, they are moving towards human settlements. In the last four months, 8 leopards were rescued, while 4 bears have been rescued in last two months and have been taken to Bannerghatta Wildlife Sanctuary,” said Dr. Umashankar.