Workers Spend Hours Trying To Save An Elephant Who’d Fallen Into A Deep Well

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.

Workers Spend Hours Trying To Save An Elephant Who’d Fallen Into A Deep Well

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.

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.


Dean-So-Close-1

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:

Want to keep up to date with the latest with Dean?

Sign up to get notifications straight to your inbox