Kappamkolly, Wayanad: Two wild elephants, that had fallen into a pond at a human settlement area near Kottanad forest in Kerala's Wayanad district, were rescued on Sunday. A team of forest personnel, police and local people joined in the 3.5-hour mission.
The villagers conducted a search in the area after hearing elephant trumpet around 3am on Sunday and found the wild animals trapped in the pond.
A tusker and she elephant had fallen into the pond, that was not very deep.
The local people immediately informed the authorities and DFO P Ranjith Kumar and his team of forest personnel reached the area by 6am. Soon, a police team led by Meppadi SI P C Sajeev also reached the spot. Local people also joined in the rescue operation.
They first tried to remove the mud from one side of the pond.
However, the elephants became aggressive and that attempt was abandoned.
Then the rescue personnel tied a rope around a nearby huge tree and threw the other end into the pond for the elephants. Though the elephants tried to hold on to the rope and get out of the pond several times, this attempt also failed.
Then a small path was created from one side of the pond using an excavator by 10.30am.
After removing the onlookers from the site, the police and forest personnel renewed the efforts to rescue the elephants. The tusker scrambled out first, followed by the she-elephant.
The two wild animals were then chased away into the Chembra forest region.
