Over 30 people in Maharashtra’s Thane district joined hands to rescue a leopard cub which was spotted with its head stuck inside a plastic container.

The search and rescue operation took about 48 hours to complete. According to news reports, the leopard cub, which is around a year old, had put its head inside the container to drink water and was unable to remove it.

The cub was spotted running around in distress, a forest department official said on Tuesday.

Local animal welfare charities had appealed for more information on the leopard after footage of the big cat running around with its head stuck in the plastic container went viral.

The video was taken by tourists who spotted the leopard desperately trying to free itself while passing near Badlapur on Sunday night.

As footage of the leopard went viral on local WhatsApp groups, officials from the forest department launched a search operation to track down the animal.

After two days spent without food or water, the cub was in a severely dehydrated state. It was moved to a rescue centre for treatment and released once it got better.  -ndtv.com