Elephant calf rescued from well in Malayattoor

Ernakulam: Forest officials successfully rescued an elephant calf that fell into a 25-ft deep well at Malayattoor here on Friday after nearly four hours of hard work. A passage was made towards the well using an excavator to rescue the baby elephant.

According to the officials, the elephant calf has not sustained any injuries after getting trapped inside the well. In the visuals, the animal was found coming out of the well through the passage and running towards the forest.

“ When the calf walked through the passage, we made loud noises to drive it away to the forest. The elephant herd was spotted near the rubber plantation during the rescue operation. So we think, the rescued calf joined its herd,” said an official. According to the forest officials, the rescue efforts were delayed due to the presence of an elephant herd near the well. It is learnt that the elephant calf was separated from its herd and fell into the well in the wee hours of Friday. Local residents who noticed elephants near the well alerted the forest department. 

Public stage protest
Meanwhile, local residents staged a protest against the forest department's lapses in preventing wild animal attacks in the area. One of the residents alleged that no action was taken to construct a fence in the area close to the forest though the government allotted Rs 80 lakh. The people argued that they were afraid to step out of their houses due to threat from wild animals.

Forest officials resumed the rescue operation after pacifying the people who demanded an amicable solution to check the straying of wild animals in the area.