Officials rescue elephant calf from manhole in Nakhon Nayok

The officials, led by Khao Yai National Park veterinarian Chananya Kanchanasakha, took hours to rescue the one-year-old calf before it was reunited with its distressed ten-year-old mother, who was tranquilised as the operation got underway.

The pair was successfully ushered back into the forest in Tambon Sarika in Muang district after the successful rescue.

Saksiri Siriboon, the head of Moo 9 village, had alerted the officials at 1am that the calf had fallen into the manhole of sewer pipes behind a resort. The manhole is about two metres deep, two metres wide and three metres long.

The rescue operation needed a special plan because the anxious mother had approached the manhole and wouldn’t leave. Officials feared it could attack the rescuers.

The mother and baby belong to a herd of some 20 to 30 elephants that had walked past the spot before the baby fell into the manhole.

Rescuers were divided into three groups. The first group was sent uphill to set up a temporary barrier to prevent the herd rushing down to help if the mother cried for help.

The second, led by Chananya, was divided into three teams – one to shoot tranquiliser darts, another to be on watch and the third to take care of the mother elephant after it was sedated.

The third group was to use a bulldozer to bring the calf back up to the surface once its mother was sedated.

Initially, the veterinarian expected the mother to be sedated and stand still while officials rescued its baby.

However, after three tranquiliser darts were fired at the mother, it collapsed into unconsciousness, its head and front portion hanging into the very manhole that had trapped the baby.

However, this allowed the trapped calf to feed from the mother's breast after it had starved throughout the night and the early hours of Wednesday.

Officials then used a bulldozer to lift up the mother. The veterinarian and helpers had to perform CPR on it while rescuers pulled the calf out from the bottom of the manhole.

Once the baby elephant was freed, it rushed to breast-feed from its unconscious mother.

Fortunately, the veterinarian managed to bring the mother elephant back to consciousness. The two elephants, gently guided by the officials, then sauntered off into the forest, none the worse for wear.