Wild elephant calf, stuck in Thadagam slush, rescued

COIMBATORE: A 10-year-old male elephant, which had misplaced its long ago into the woodland after it got here to drink water from the Thadagam house on early Saturday morning, was sent again to the woodland within the night time. The wild animal had got trapped in slush within the marshy land and was not able to transport, woodland department officials said.

Residents within the house, who noticed the struggling elephant, had informed woodland department officials within the morning.

"Four elephants had come to drink water from a small pond in the area, located about 150m from the Thadagam Road. The other three elephants were adults," district woodland officer N Satheesh said.

While the adult elephants went again to the reserve woodland, which is 2km away from the pond, the 10-year-old animal may just no longer move from the marshy land. "The land was wet and the soil was caving in as the elephant places its feet. It had lost track of the way back to the forest," Satheesh informed TOI.

Wild elephants most often come out of the woodland to human habitats searching for water. With the spell of rain in the previous couple of days, small pools within the house are full of water.