After 6-hour battle, 3 jumbos rescued from well near Sathy

The elephants, which had come out of the forest in search of water, had fallen into the ground-level well in darkness. Awakened by their continuous trumpeting past midnight, villagers informed the Forest Department staff, who reached the spot in Kanangkundur village and began rescue operations.

“It was a risky operation. Earthmovers couldn’t be brought to the spot as it was a steep area and delaying the rescue operations could have risked the jumbo family trapped in the well, which was full of water. The elephants managed to stay in the slushy portion of the well. Lifting them out was also ruled out as tranquillizers would have to be used. It may have put them in potential risk of drowning,” said forest veterinary officer K Asokan.

The villagers pitched in by carving a pathway out of the well — using farm tools like crowbars and spades. The rescue effort, supervised by District Forest Officer PG Arunlal, Ranger TR Bernard and other staff, extended for about six hours from 4 am.

A 15-year-old elephant first climbed out through the slippery path made by the Forest Department and moved into the forest to join the herd. However, the sub-adult jumbo, aged about six, couldn’t climb and slid down the steep slippery path.

The mother jumbo, the oldest of the three, came to its rescue by goading it upward. She prevented the calf from slipping and kept pushing it up until it got out safely. The bigger elephant then came out easily and all went into the jungle quickly.

All the three elephants looked healthy and are likely to have joined their herd in the jungle, said officials.

The scene was caught on camera and has gone viral on social media.

As the elephants climbed out of the well one after the other, Asokan said, “They all belong to the same family and could be the mother, her sister and its calf. It was touching to see the mother elephant helping its sister and calf jumbo climb the well.”

A large number of villagers, who had gathered to help the Forest Department in the rescue effort, cheered and clapped as the elephants came out one after the other from the well.

As the well is located barely 500 metres from the reserve forest area, the Forest Department advised the farm owner to build a wall surrounding the property to prevent similar incidents.