Anytime an animal is rescued from a grim fate is a reason to celebrate. And one rescue team in India should definitely be celebrating after spending 15 hours saving a large elephant who’d fallen into a 50ft well.
Considering the average Asian elephant weighs 6,000-8,8000 pounds, the rescue mission was no easy feat. The team had to figure out how to safely lift the large animal out of the deep well while minimizing risk for themselves and the elephant. Of course, the rescue was captured on video.
In the beginning, you can see the elephant trapped at the bottom of the well in the village of Dharmapuri, India. A crowd begins to gather to watch the rescue unfold. After the elephant attempted to attack a pipe the rescuers had sent down the well, they decided the best possible move was to sedate the elephant. According to NPR, a doctor was deployed to sedate the beast. After that, she was secured with heavy-duty belts and hauled up with a crane.
The rescue started in broad daylight on Thursday and continued well past nightfall, totaling 15 hours of operation time.
It was 15 hour long rescue. Here at a glance. From planning, getting down, crowd management, keeping elephant alive & hydrated and then finally bringing her out safely. Elephant needs appreciation as well for cooperating. 🙏🏻🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/nrFGHJ6qqT
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) November 20, 2020
Once the elephant was sedated, rescuers secured its body in large, thick belts. Then began the slow ascent out of the well.
The crane worked to lift the heavy animal. As soon as it was hoisted over the edge of the well and lowered onto solid ground, cheers erupted. Onlookers and rescuers alike were relieved and excited to see the rescue be a success!
Once on solid ground, the rescuers freed the elephant from the ropes. After the sedation wore off a bit, the elephant slowly regained composure and stood up. It ended up being totally fine!
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time an elephant had to be rescued from a well in that area. According to Reuters, two other elephants had been rescued after falling into wells in the area in the past year alone.
Open wells & ditches in elephant migratory routes are huge problems for these animals. Since they are long ranging creatures, migrate to long distances for food & water.
Least we can do is cover such wells or keep safety wall. Imagine it was a 50 feet deep well. pic.twitter.com/DowUTy6aKZ
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) November 20, 2020
Thankfully, the rescue team and everyone involved did an amazing job to make sure this elephant made it out alive and well.
Check out the incredible rescue in the video below:
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