Leopard cub rescued from illegal captivity gets rare blood transfusion

The leopard cub undergoes a check-up at RESQ Wildlife TTC in Pune

In a rare case, an emergency blood transfusion was performed for an Indian leopard cub at NGO RESQ Wildlife Transit Treatment Centre, Pune. The cub was rescued by the Nashik forest department and NGO Eco Echo from illegal captivity in Nashik.

Neha Panchamia, founder of RESQ Charitable Trust, said, "The female cub is about three months old and is suffering from severe malassezia, secondary bacterial infections and is highly immunocompromised due to her previous captive conditions."

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When the team checked the cub on Monday, she appeared listless. The diagnostics (blood work) revealed extremely low/ life threatening haemoglobin values. "As her condition worsened, the veterinarians and team sought necessary consent from the principal chief conservator of forests late last night (Tuesday) and performed an emergency blood transfusion from another leopard cub the same age who is also currently housed at RESQ," added Panchamia.

The procedure was successfully performed by RESQ Wildlife veterinarians Dr Nikita Mehta and Dr Kalyani Thakur after cross-matching of blood while Dr Vishal Salunkhe assisted with some necessary equipment.

"Both the donor and recipient leopard cubs are doing well. However, the next 48-72 hours are still considered critical for the recipient leopard cub and we are keenly observing its progress. Coincidently, it was World Blood Donor Day on Tuesday," said Panchamia.

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Age in months of the rescued leopard cub