Forest officials in Hanur, southern India, managed to rescue a distressed elephant that was trapped in an agricultural well.<br /><br />A resident of Kudaluru village noticed that a male elephant had fallen into an agricultural well on April 23. <br /><br />Though the water was not deep, the terrified animal kept losing its foothold and was repeatedly slipping into the water. <br /><br />A local forest team led by officers V. Yedukondalu and Sundar rushed to the spot and started the rescue operation immediately. <br /><br />“The animal was getting exhausted and could have drowned,” said Basavaraju, an eye witness. <br /><br />Racing against time, a digger brought in by the forest officials furiously dug a path out of the well. <br /><br />The elephant managed to muster its strength to climb out of the well and return to the forest. <br /><br />A forest official blamed the crowd for the plight of the elephant. <br /><br />“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.
