The forest officials on Monday afternoon rescued a 10-year-old calf elephant that was trapped in the slush of a farm pond near Kadambur Hill near Sathy forest area after a 30-hour-long operation.
Starved of sufficient food and water, the elephant reportedly strayed from the forest area on Sunday morning and reached a farm pond at Aasikombai near Pavalakuttai. However, it slipped in the slush and fell, and was not able to stand up due to weakness, Forest Department officials said.
Hearing its trumpets, the mother elephant and another calf elephant came to the spot and tried to rescue it, but in vain.
On information, a team of Forest Department officials, led by Ranger S Shanmugam, tried to rescue the calf using a crane but failed in the first attempt.
Seeing its weak condition, the officials offered glucose and bananas to the animal. Till late night they could not get it out of the slush.
At night, the mother elephant once again came to the area and cried hoarse. It trotted back into the forest around 7.30 am on Monday after which the forest officials re-started their operation.
They offered more glucose and fruits to the animal after which it stood up. The officials then rescued it from the slush with the help of the crane in the afternoon. It was allowed to walk away to the forest.
“After nearly 30 hours, the elephant was saved alive. It is a victory for our efforts,” forest officials said. The rescue operation took so long since the elephant was weak due to lack of food and water.
Once it regained its strength, the rescue was easy, they added.