An elephant calf that had fallen into a 15-ft- deep pit in O’valley in the Nilgiris district on Saturday night was rescued by the Forest Department personnel and locals on Sunday.
According to the sources, the tribal people in the area were alerted by the trumpeting of elephants on Saturday night. When they reached the spot, they found a herd of elephants standing around a pit. Though initially they were unable to go near the pit because of the presence of elephants, the herd then backed off into the forest after people gathered in large numbers after day break. However, the herd was still watching the pit from a distance. The locals immediately alerted the Forest Department. The officials dug a trench along the sides of the pit and created a slope for the calf to climb up. With a little bit of prodding, the calf, estimated to be around three years old, came out to the huge applause of the gathering and reunited with its herd. The rescue operation lasted for more than four hours.
