Forest Department officials rescued a female elephant calf that had accidentally fallen into an underground water storage tank at a private farm near Anthiyur in Erode district on Friday midnight, following a struggle lasting about two hours.
Forest Department officials rescued a female elephant calf that had accidentally fallen into an underground water storage tank at a private farm near Anthiyur in Erode district on Friday midnight, following a struggle lasting about two hours. Photo | Express
ERODE: Forest department officials late on Friday night rescued a young female elephant, likely to be six to eight years old, that had accidentally fallen into an underground water storage tank located on a private farmland near Anthiyur in Erode district. According to forest officials, the animal, which entered the farmland in Mutharasan Kuttai village in search of food, was chased by stray dogs, leading to it accidentally falling into the tank.
The farmland, belonging to one Arun, lies adjacent to a reserve forest area that falls under the Anthiyur forest range. The water storage tank is located behind Arun’s house and it is nearly 12 ft deep, with water filled up to 6 ft on Friday night. “While being chased by the stray dogs, the elephant ran off course and it accidentally fell into the tank, which was covered with cement sheets. The incident came to light only after Arun visited the tank after hearing the animal’s screams,” said an official, adding that the rescue operation lasted nearly two hours.
Anthiyur Forest Range Officer M Nandini said the elephant fell into the tank around 9.50 pm and the team was able to reach the spot immediately, as it was about 800 metres from a forest department check-post. “When we reached the spot, the elephant was frightened,” she said.