Villagers found a tusker fallen in a slush-filled well, unable to get out. They alerted forest officials, who arrived with equipment to rescue it.
In a nearly five-hour operation, forest officials with the help of villagers succeeded in pulling the animal out without any harm to it. Once free, the jumbo made its way back into the forest.
According to some villagers, a herd of 18 pachyderms had strayed into the village in search of food, late on Thursday (24 October) night, as the elephants made their way back into the forest one of the members of the herd fell into the mud-filled well and got trapped there.
Incidents, when elephants cross over into human habitats, are not uncommon in India, as their natural territories have been shrinking due to human encroachment. This is particularly the case in 12 states with the highest populations of elephants. India has an elephant population of an estimated 30,000, as per the last census carried out in 2017.