Story By: Lee Bullen; Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder; Agency: AsiaWire Report;
Video Credit: AsiaWire
This is the moment 75 cops and a team of forest officials rescue a cute baby elephant that stepped on a concrete slab and fell into a 23-foot -deep septic tank where it was stuck for almost a day.
The incident took place outside the village of Chandanakamparain the district of Kannur located in the southern Indian state of Kerala when a team of forest officials, police and residents made a path for the elephant calf with their bare hands.
Police spokesperson Vinod said that the “baby elephant was part of a herd of wild elephants” which passed through the area.
Vinod added: “The ‘well’ was shut with a concrete slab and the calf fell into it after it stepped on the slab and broke it. Residents noticed the elephant only in the morning.”
Reports said that the hole was about seven metres (23 feet) deep and was initially intended to be a well, but was soon converted into a septic tank when it failed to hold water.
Picture Credit: AsiaWire
Incredibly, the rescue operation was delayed by several hours when villagers reportedly protested against what they perceived as the menace of wild elephants in the area.
Vinod said: “When officials first came, residents did not allow the calf to be rescued as they wanted the damage caused to their farmland by the elephants to be addressed first.”
In the end, the District Forest Officer promised to address the issue so that the calf rescue operation could go ahead.
A team of forest officials, local residents and 75 cops used their hands to make a path for the elephant to climb up because there was not a digger available for them to use at the time, according to reports.
It is unclear what happened to the calf once it was rescued from the 23-foot hole.
Meanwhile, the Forest Department will meet with villagers in the coming days to discuss the issue of wild elephants damaging their property.
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