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Two leopard cubs are being looked after by wildlife officials in India today after they were found abandoned in a dry well. Now efforts are underway to track their mother down, in an area that's threatened by poachers.

On Wednesday, forest officials rescued two leopard cubs found abandoned in a dry well in Veraval City in India's Gujarat state.

Villagers informed forest officials when they found the two cubs.

The forest officials have been feeding the cubs and have decided to keep the pair at the place that they were found so that they can trap their mother.

[Aparnathi, Forest Official, Veraval Range]:
"We have found two leopard cubs in a dry well as their mother had left them abandoned. The leopard cubs were sitting in a dried up well and it seems that the cubs are two months old. We have set up a cage to capture the mother leopard."

The increasing demand for animal hides in the international market poses a constant threat to the leopard and tiger population of India from poachers.

If this trend continues, wildlife officials fear leopards might soon become extinct.