A baby elephant was rescued from a well in a village in India's Jharkhand state.
(CNN) -
A baby elephant's misadventure turned into an elaborate rescue mission in a small Indian village after it fell into a 30-foot-deep well.
The calf was part of a herd of elephants that entered the village of Nimatand on the night of May 2 from the nearby forest in Giridih district in the eastern state of Jharkhand.
Villagers chased away the herd, but discovered the calf at the bottom of the well the next morning.
"Unfortunately, in the dead of night, at approximately 9 pm local time, a baby elephant fell into the well," said local government official Shashikant Verma, who photographed the rescue.
Several backhoes were used to demolish the side of the shaft and dig a trench for the elephant to walk.
"The [water] level was not high enough, but the calf achieved some buoyancy after falling and was not injured."
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Villagers alerted the local Forest Department, which launched a rescue operation using three backhoes.
Officials demolished one entire side of the well wall, eventually ramping into the ground to allow the baby elephant to walk on its own rather than being lifted vertically.
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Eight hours later, the little elephant stumbled out of the well, covered in mud and dust.
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