Female elephant saved from water course

Coimbatore, Apr 22 (UNI) A 14-year-old female elephant was pulled up from the water course, after a rescue operation that lasted nearly 20 hours, near Boothikuppam village in Satyamangalam forest area in Erode district.

Tamil Nadu forest department's veterinary officer N S Manoharan told UNI that a herd consisting of seven to eight pachyderms came to the water course to drink water on Thursday evening. A cow elephant, stated to be pregnant, got caught in the water body. The other elephants tried but were not able to haul her up.

On Friday, some villagers saw the elephant and informed the forest department. Immediately, the forest officials and fire service officials rushed to the spot. They, along with the villagers, tried to pull her out using rope but could manage it only by a few meters.

Over 100 people including Tamil Nadu forest officials, fire service officials and villagers struggled to save her relentlessly for 20 hours. Later, they put Eucalyptus logs and stones near the elephant and tried to drag her out. Finally, they succeeded in bringing the elephant out yesterday morning.

Dr Manoharan said the tired pachyderm after consuming some food, went back to the forest.

UNI