Lion rescued from well in Gujarat.

Updated: November 5, 2014 02:02 IST

Forest officials from Gujarat’s Junagadh district rescued a male Asiatic lion from a well on Monday morning, in an operation that lasted a few hours.

The 9-year-old lion strayed from his habitat and fell into a well, in Amrapur village in Maliya Hatina taluk.

“He was spotted in the well around 6 a.m. The rescue began immediately. There was water in the 60-foot-deep well. A charpoy was suspended and he climbed onto it and was rescued. The animal has been sent to the Sasan Gir animal care centre. We will have to find out his regular habitat and then release him,” Mr. Katara, Deputy Conservator of Forest (Social Forestry) of Junagadh district, told The Hindu.

The Gujarat government has a scheme to allot Rs. 8,000 per well for the construction of walls around wells.

“This particular well did not have the parapet wall. We have told the well owner to build it immediately and the monetary assistance will also be provided to him,” Mr. Katara said.

The Sasan Gir National Park is the only natural habitat of the Asiatic lion, with the protected area stretching from south east of Junagadh to south west of Amreli district.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/lion-rescued-from-well-in-gujarat/article6564922.ece