A giant bear fell into a 15-feet-deep well in the Vellanad town of Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram and passed away during the rescue operation conducted by the officials on Thursday. The bear had waded into a residential area in the early hours of Thursday and fell into the well while trying to catch a hen creating a panic among the villagers.

Upon receiving alerts from locals, the district forest officer (DFO) led a rescue operation to free the trapped bear. However, the officials' decision to tranquilize the bear led to it going under water after the animal became unconscious. The rescue efforts went on for nearly two hours, and firefighters were called in to extract the bear from the well. However, despite their best efforts, the bear could not be saved.

DFO Pradeep Kumar said that they decided to tranquilize the bear as it was a heavily populated area, and the rescue operation was expected to be challenging. However, the unexpected incident resulted in the bear's death. He added that the officials tried their best, but they could not rescue the animal due to the well's depth and the bear's condition.

A thorough investigation into the rescue mission's unscientific approach have been demanded by animal rights activists, who have also emphasized the need for a more proactive and scientific approach to wildlife conservation and rescue operations. The government is urged to take strict action against those accountable for this unfortunate incident and guarantee that such incidents do not occur again in the future. A probe has now been ordered into the incident, and questions have been raised about the coordination of the rescue efforts.