Elephant Falls Into Nearly 50 Feet Deep Well, Rescue Operation Takes 12 Hours [Video]

Forest officials have rescued an elephant after it fell into a nearly 50 feet deep farming well in India.

The incident happened in the village of Dharmapuri in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The animal had strayed into the village before plunging down the well. The owner of the well alerted officials after hearing the cries of the elephant past midnight, news outlet The Hindu reported.

The animal, who is about 25 years old, had been roaming the vicinity with two other elephants for the past few days, the publication reported, citing forest officials.

The rescue operation involved at least 50 officials from the forest department, the fire and rescue services and the local police, The Hindu reported. It reportedly took nearly 12 hours for the elephant to be rescued.

Photos from the rescue showed belts and straps were lowered into the well, and a heavy-duty crane was used to lift the animal to safety.

Water from the well was pumped out to ease the rescue and coconut tree leaves were dropped into the well to feed the animal, The Hindu reported. A team of veterinarians sedated the animal before it was rescued.

Footage from the rescue showed the elephant was strapped with belts and suspended upside down.

The elephant was found to be healthy and active after the rescue and was monitored for three hours by experts, a forest official, Rajkumar, told Reuters. Rajkumar said the well didn’t have a barrier around it and was obscured by trees. "It was a deep and narrow well," he told the outlet.

The forest department officials plan to release the animal into the surrounding Hosur forest area from where it had ventured into the locality, The Hindu reported.

Unsecured wells and ditches pose a threat to the animals, Indian Forest Service official Parveen Kaswan said in a Twitter post Thursday. Kaswan said in the post that elephants need expansive lands to survive because they tend to scale long distances for food and water.

"Least we can do is cover such wells or keep safety wall," said Kaswan.