Terrified baby elephant rescued after falling into 30-foot well in south India

A young elephant was trapped in a 30-foot ground well in Tamil Naddu, south India, necessitating a six-hour-long rescue operation to free the frightened animal.

Footage of the event on Saturday, November 10, shows the clearly distressed juvenile bashing against the walls of the well, while onlookers work to dig a ramp for it to climb out.

The young elephant was travelling with a herd of 50 others while passing through a forest near the village of Hosur. A group of 10 elephants separated from the herd and strayed near the village before returning into the forest, when the young one slipped into the farm well.

The alarmed herd hung around the distressed elephant and later left the spot - it seems in a frantic bid to climb out, the young elephant had injured itself. Villagers from Hosur noticed the elephant in the well and informed Forest officials.

Forest officials started rescue operations and retrieved the baby elephant after six hours of digging work with excavators. The rescued elephant climbed out and swiftly ran back into the forest.