A 15-year-old elephant was trapped for 10 hours in an abandoned well before it was rescued.
The animal fell right into a well in Ernakulam, within the southern Indian state of Kerala, on Tuesday at around 2.00am. In accordance with the reports, the well didn’t have a wall, and was situated near the house of doctor Thattayath Aliyar.
Forest officials rescued the elephant using an excavator, making a mud ramp so it could safely escape.
Witnesses say the elephant struggled at first to climb out from the muddy water, but eventually managed to interrupt free and return to the forest.
Forest department personnel were initially prepared to start rescue operations within the early morning, but residents protested, demanding that the elephant be permanently relocated away from human habitation.
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After a gathering, the realm’s divisional forest officer, P. Karhik, assured villagers the elephant can be kept under 24-hour surveillance using drones and forest patrol teams upon release and can be captured if it were to stray into human areas again.
Authorities also said they’d compensate the homeowner for damages and install an electrical fence within the region. Only after these demands were met did the rescue operation begin, around noon.
Forest officials say that the highest of the elephant’s trunk was damaged as a part of an old wound. The injury restricts the elephant’s ability to forage for food and water, explaining why it incessantly wanders into residential areas to seek out easily accessible sustenance.
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