Keonjhar: A baby elephant, which had fallen into a well, was rescued after night-long operation in Odisha’s Keonjhar district on Tuesday.
According to sources, a herd of 8 elephants had intruded into a village under Telkoi forest range in the district from a forest in Dhenkanl district, apparently in search of food, late Monday night. While the elephants were busy devouring paddy crop in the farm fields, the villagers came to know about it.
Armed with lathis and torch, the villagers created a ruckus close to the herd and managed to scare the elephants away. While the elephants rushed back to the forest, a baby elephant fell into a well on the outskirt of the village. But the elephants did not go deep into the forest and continued to remain stationed on its periphery.
Unable to rescue the baby elephant on their own, the villagers informed the Forest department. The Forest officials along with Fire services personnel started the rescue operation early Tuesday morning.
With the help of an earth remover, they dug up the area around the well to create a big ditch. Then the baby elephant managed to walk out of the well. It walked back to the herd which left the place after some time. The Forest officials said the condition of the elephant seemed to be normal.