This story is from August 20, 2019

Villagers rescue 18-month-old leopard cub from gorge

Villagers rescue 18-month-old leopard cub from gorge
Dehradun: In a daring operation, villagers of Sahiya on the outskirts of Dehradun rescued an ailing leopard cub from an 80-metre-deep gorge on Monday morning.
According to sources, the 18-month-old cub was initially spotted on Chakrata Road, nearly a km away from Sahiya village. On noticing that the animal was not in a stable condition, the villagers started following it as it moved towards a gorge to drink water.
Sources said that they then rescued the cub before rushing it to the revenue police outpost nearby.
Devilal Singh, a local involved in the rescue operation, said, “Revenue police officials alerted a forest team who shifted the cub to Kalsi Government Veterinary Hospital for better treatment.”
Dr Varun Agarwal, part of a three-member team which treated the cub, said, “When the animal was brought to the hospital, its condition was totally unstable. It was not even able to stand and was looking depressed. There was some positive response after administering first aid.” “We kept the animal under observation for two hours at Kalsi and shifted it to a higher facility in Chidiyapur,” he added.
Chakrata divisional forest officer Deep Chandra Arya said, “On information from revenue police, we rushed to the spot and shifted the cub to Kalsi. We didn’t find any external injury marks during examination and that is a sign that the villagers did not hurt the animal.”
Dr Amit Dhyani, who is treating the cub at the Chidiyapur rescue centre, said, “The animal is critical and all its parameters are very high. It is also suffering from seizures constantly. We will keep it under observation for 12 hours and by then even the medicines will start showing its effect.”

The veterinarian ruled out the possibility of any viral infection and said that the cub’s blood samples have been sent to Pashulok in Rishikesh for tests.
“The animal will succumb immediately if it is a viral infection. It must be some protozoan infection which needs to be investigated. The cub was dehydrated when it came to us and lack of food and water can also be one of the reasons why the animal is in this shape. Getting drenched in the rain or eating rotten flesh also cause such problems,” he added.
Another veterinarian said, “Another possible reason behind the cub’s health condition is stress due to separation from mother leopard. It affects them both mentally and physically at times. Some cubs even succumb due to this.”
The DFO, however, said, “The villagers have taken utmost care during the rescue operation which is remarkable.”
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