Dhenkanal: Forest officials Saturday morning rescued an elephant calf that had fallen into a well and struggled hard to get out at Jamujhara village under Kamakhyanagar block in this district.
Locals spotted the calf after hearing its wail in the morning and alerted forest officials. With the help of the villagers, forest officials worked through the early hours of Saturday to save the baby elephant. It was a hard time for the calf as it struggled to keep its head above the water.
The calf strayed into the village late Friday night along with its herd. While roaming around, it fell inside the well. A few hours later, the pachyderm was helped out of the well amid cheers from the human rescuers.
After preliminary treatment, the animal was again released into a forest so that it could join its herd once again, a forest official stated adding that they were keeping a close eye on the animal.
There is a large herd of wild elephants in a forest near the village. The animals often raid local farms, eat away the crops and damage plantations. Many farmers and forest officials have been trying to keep the wild herd away from the village, locals noted.
