Gir Somnath – The forest department officials in the Talala range indulged in a heart-pounding rescue operation after an adult lioness, who was out in search of a prey, fell into an open well at Dhawa village in the early morning of Sunday. The lioness was spotted by the farmer, who heard the roaring sound, and immediately informed the forest officials.
In the rescue operation, which lasted for more than two hours, the forest staff was successful in pulling up the lioness on the ground and caged her alive and safe.
How did the incident happen?
A farmer from Dhawa village heard the roar of a lion from the village well early on Sunday morning. On investigating, he found a lioness trapped in the well. The farmer immediately informed the Talala Forest Guard.
As soon as the notification was received, under the guidance of DCF Tomar and as per the instructions of RFO Vaghasia, the forest guard Praveen Vala, Talala staff, labor and tracker team immediately reached the spot with a vehicle with a cage and started the rescue operation.
The forest department staff put in a lot of effort in this heart-wrenching rescue operation that lasted for about half an hour. Finally, the lioness was successfully rescued from the well.
After being rescued from the well, the female lioness was immediately shifted to the animal care center. There, she was given first aid and her health was checked by the team of veterinary doctors. On her complete recovery, the lioness was released back into the forest.
This incident has once again highlighted the problem of open wells and the dangers to wildlife. The forest department is making efforts to create awareness among the local farmers and the public to cover such open wells in order to safeguard the wild animals wandering in the village during the night.
The forest department is running various schemes to protect wildlife including lions in the Gir forest and its surrounding areas. As one such effort, with the help of the forest department, parapets have been built around the open wells of farmers to prevent wildlife from falling into the well. However, since there is no provision or plan in this scheme to install nets on the parapets, accidents of wildlife falling into the wells are still being seen.
Crores of rupees are spent on building parapets to prevent wildlife from falling into the wells. These parapets certainly provide some protection, but agile wildlife like lions, leopards can easily jump or slip over these parapets while chasing prey or for any other reason. The recent incident of a lioness falling into a well in Dhawa village of Talala is a living example of this.
To completely prevent such accidents, wildlife conservationists and environmentalists have been demanding for a long time to install strong netting on the parapet. This netting will provide an additional safety shield for the wildlife and prevent them from falling into the well, especially at night when visibility is poor.
“This is a serious issue for the forest department and the government. Despite spending crores of rupees, if the safety system remains incomplete, it is of no use. It is necessary that the provision of installing netting along the parapet be immediately included in this scheme to prevent wildlife accidents. This will not only save the lives of wildlife, but also enable more effective use of the funds spent by the government” said a wildlife conservationist.
