Two heartwarming videos show how villagers in Thailand came together to help rescue a baby elephant trapped in a muddy well. A video posted on CGTN's official YouTube channel shows the elephant calf struggling to keep its head above the muddy waters. Another video posted on the official Facebook page of Thailand's Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation captures the exact moment the elephant is finally rescued.
According to Chiang Rai Times, the baby Asian elephant was one of 40 wild elephants that wandered into a rubber plantation, apparently in search of food, on Friday.
The elephant calf tumbled into a well in the Kaeng Hang Maeo district of Thailand's Chanthaburi province. The elephant's mother tried to help it out but was electrocuted on a nearby electric fence, reports Thai PBS. Fortunately, villagers managed to cut off the electricity supply in time. They then turned to assist forest rangers guide the one-year-old elephant out of the well.
A mechanical digger was used to make a slope out of the three-metre well that the elephant could climb up and escape. Chiang Rai Times reports it took approximately 30 minutes of digging before the animal was finally freed. This video shows the tense final moments of the rescue:
The elephant managed to join its mother, who fortunately recovered from the shock, and they both disappeared into the jungle with the waiting herd.