A herd of eight elephants was spotted trying to cross river Mahanadi near the reservoir of the dam. <br /><br />The incredible story of survival unfolded on October 15 near Munduli dam in Cuttack district of Odisha, India.<br /><br />Three elephants turned back as they found the river deep and the water current swift. <br /><br />Many rivers in Odisha are overflowing due to heavy rains that accompanied Cyclone Thitli three days ago.<br /><br />Five elephants of the herd continued to swim ahead but started drifting with the current of the water.<br /><br />They entered the reservoir area of the dam and started moving towards the sluice gates of the dam, which are used to maintain the water level.<br /><br />Fearing that the elephants may get stuck at the sluice gates, the dam officials lifted them. <br /><br />Water swept out of the reservoir in force carrying the elephants with them. <br /><br />Wildlife activist Lalit Mohan Panda, who shot a few of the videos, said: “The sudden opening of the gates made the elephants appear helpless for some time. But after a few moments, they gathered their wits and started swimming again.”<br /><br />“Elephants are such good swimmers, they can easily swim across fully flooded rivers,” he added. <br /><br />Three of the elephants found shallow water quickly and stopped to rest. Two others had to swim for some more distance before reaching the shore safely.
