The female leopard had strayed into a residential area in Guwahati’s Gokulnagar.

The leopard was stuck in the dry well for nearly two hours before being rescued (AFP)

A leopard which found itself trapped in a dry well in a residential area in Assam’s capital Guwahati was rescued after a two-hour operation by local forest officials.

A female leopard strayed into a residential area in Guwahati’s Gokulnagar and fell into a 30-foot-deep dry well on Wednesday. As officials and police officers worked on a plan to rescue the animal, it was captured growling angrily at cameras. The operation to rescue the leopard was aided by locals, as reported by the Assam Tribune.

Forest department officials tranquilised the big cat and hoisted the animal to safety. Video of the rescue operation showed Dr Bijoy Gogoi, a vet with the forest department, tranquilising the animal and descending down the dry well with the help of a ladder and a harness. The sedated leopard was then lifted out of the well while tied to a rope. It took nearly two hours for the risky rescue, reported Hindustan Times.

As officials carried the tranquilised leopard in a cage, a crowd gathered around to see the sight.

The feline was taken to the state zoo. Medical examination conducted on the leopard detected no injuries, said Assam Tribune.

This is the second such incident of human-animal conflict in the northeast state of Assam. Earlier in December, an angry mob in Dibrugarh hunted and ate a leopard that had killed an elderly woman after straying into a village from a forest. Its paw was the only body part left after the villagers consumed it.