Watch: Elephant Rescued From 40-Foot Well

A four-year-old elephant calf was rescued from a deep water well after a 4-hour struggle Monday.

The calf was found by a villager in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu who heard it trumpeting from the well in his farmland. When he went closer, he found the elephant calf inside the well and informed forest officials.

Personnel from the fire and rescue services department, wildlife enthusiasts and veterinarians too reached the spot and helped with rescue efforts. The forest officials brought a payloader, lowered a rope and tied it around the four-year-old calf to lift it out. After almost four hours, the calf was finally rescued.

Forest ranger Ayub Khan, who led the rescue operation, said he reached the location along with 30 forest department personnel, five fire and rescue personnel and two veterinarians. They first tried to pull up with calf using a rope but the plan did not work out as the calf was tired after swimming for a few hours.

They then dropped a few metal pipes into the well for the calf to cling on to. A payloader was used to dig the side of the well and a ramp was made for the elephant to climb on. However, since the elephant was tired, ropes were used to drag the animal to a few feet up. It then climbed on and ran into the forest, local daily the Times Of India reported.

“The pachyderm did not suffer injuries as the well had a diameter of 15 feet and also had water at a depth of 15 feet,” Khan said.

In a similar incident in March 2018, a wild elephant was saved from drowning in a river in Indian state of Uttarakhand. The incident came to light after forest officials saw the elephant stuck at one of the barrages on the river. In order to reduce water level in the river, the officials diverted water. The elephant then swam to safety.

"It got washed away in the strong current of the river, eventually getting trapped at the Virbhadra barrage gate in Rishikesh town. The only way to save the elephant was by reducing the water level. The high volume of water was making the elephant struggle and that is why we decided to save him quickly. The water level decreased for a few minutes and we were able to successfully rescue the elephant,” the forest official said, BBC reported.