Forest officials in Hanur, southern India, managed to rescue a distressed elephant that was trapped in an agricultural well.
A resident of Kudaluru village noticed that a male elephant had fallen into an agricultural well on April 23.
Though the water was not deep, the terrified animal kept losing its foothold and was repeatedly slipping into the water.
A local forest team led by officers V. Yedukondalu and Sundar rushed to the spot and started the rescue operation immediately.
“The animal was getting exhausted and could have drowned,” said Basavaraju, an eye witness.
Racing against time, a digger brought in by the forest officials furiously dug a path out of the well.
The elephant managed to muster its strength to climb out of the well and return to the forest.
A forest official blamed the crowd for the plight of the elephant.
“A crowd gathered around the well and made a ruckus. The noise disoriented the animal and made it fall into the water repeatedly. Fortunately, nothing untoward happened,” he said.