A mother elephant and her calf were rescued from a 20 feet deep pit last week by forest officers near Vadattupara in Kothamangalam in Kerala. The duo was in the pit for more than 24 hours before they could be rescued.
“Around 7pm, the calf and the female elephant were rescued from the pit. The calf came out first followed by the female elephant,” forest officials informed. “As the spot was one of the deeper regions of the forest, it was hard to bring in men and materials for the rescue operation.”
According to the officials they had to enter that area of the forest using bamboo rafts. Because of the difficulty of the terrain, it took them an entire day to finally create an inclined platform using mud and dried leaves that the elephants could use. Once the ramp was in place, first the calf walked out and later the mother elephant was rescued.
It is believed that the mother was 22 years old and the baby about 1 and a half years old.
Old Traps, Persistent Problem
The trap in which the elephants fell was a man made one dug by the forest department about 30 years ago. Its purpose at that time was to catch wild elephants. Though the practice of catching the elephants was banned, the pits were never filled, leaving the elephants in permanent danger.
V. K. Venkitachalam, secretary of the Heritage Animal Task Force demanded that the traps were dangerous to wildlife and needed to be levelled and demanded action against those who didn’t see to this matter urgently.
The mother and calf were rescued on time, but other animals might not be this lucky.
Other Related Stories,
Jumbo Ferries Saving Marooned Villagers
One thought on “Elephant Mother and Baby Rescued from Deep Pit”