Wild elephant rescued from farm well near Palamaner

Forest officials bring pachyderm out after 3-hour operation

A wild elephant which fell into a farm well near Palamaner in Chittoor district on Thursday.

In a freak incident, a wild elephant from the Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary was rescued from a farm well after it fell into it, at Gandhi Nagar village of Gangavaram mandal on Thursday, after a three-hour long operation.

A herd of five elephants was on the move in Gangavaram mandal since a couple of weeks, raiding crops. On Wednesday night, when the the herd entered a field, a male adult elephant slipped into an abandoned 10-foot deep well. From midnight till the early hours, the beleaguered jumbo kept trumpeting, while the other members of the herd retreated into the nearby hillocks on seeing the villagers.

On information from the residents, forest officials from Palamaner and Chittoor rushed to the spot and undertook rescue operation. An earth mover was deployed and one side of the wall of the well was dug and a slope created. The jumbo easily scaled the slope and made its way towards the hillocks to join its herd around 10 a.m. of Thursday.

Forest officials said as the abandoned well was not much deep, the jumbo did not suffer major injuries. After coming out of the well, the animal walked towards the sanctuary without showing any discomfort.