In the wee hours of Thursday, locals living near the Sri Lalithambika temple at Periya Thadagam, Coimbatore woke up to a very distressing sound. It was coming from a one-month-old elephant calf, who had fallen into a 10-feet-deep water tank.
The calf was part of a six-member herd of elephants who had wandered into the area, possibly in search of water, District Forest Officer N Satheesh told TNM.
While the calf slipped and fell into the tank around 4.30 am, the forest officials could not come to its rescue because of the mother elephant and the herd being close by.
The Anti-Poaching Watchers (APW) and Rapid Response Team (RRT) members then managed to disperse the herd by bursting crackers.
“Then we had to break the tank using an earth mover. We created a ramp like structure. People went in and helped push the calf out,” Satheesh said.
This can be seen in the video as well. It also shows the rescuers making sure that the baby manages to find its herd. Four men guide the calf, who still seems confused and perturbed, towards the direction of the forest.
You can then see visuals of the calf reunited with the herd. While it is not entirely clear, there seem to be two adult elephants waiting in the distance and the calf is reunited with them.
Watch the video here:
It is not uncommon to hear about elephants, especially calves, falling into pits and wells in Coimbatore. Satheesh said that they had built a few water troughs in the forest area from where the elephants could easily drink water without the risk of the younger ones getting stranded.
“In this case, the water tank was being used by the temple. We are not really sure why the elephant herd came all the way here. But we are trying to prevent such occurrences,” he said.