4 wild elephants stuck in pond near Sullia in Karnataka, rescued by forest officials

Officials believe that the wild elephants entered the arecanut plantation at night, possibly to quench their thirst in the pond. After getting into the pond, they were unable to come out

Four wild elephants, including two calves, which were stuck in a pond in Ajjavara village of Sullia taluk in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, were rescued by Forest Department officials on April 13.

According to Deputy Conservator of Forests Y. K. Dinesh Kumar, the four elephants entered the arecanut plantation of Sanath Rai on April 12 night, possibly to quench their thirst in the pond. After getting into the pond, they got stuck. People found two elephants, aged around 30 years, and two calves unable to climb outside the pond.

Mr. Rai and other villagers alerted the Forest Department which sent a team of personnel, including Assistant Conservator of Forest Praveen and Range Forest Officer Manjunath, to the spot.

“We used an earth-mover to break a portion of the pond’s boundary to make a path for the elephants to come up,” Mr. Kumar said. The four elephants managed to come out of the pond and moved towards the forest around 10.30 a.m. on April 13.

Ajjavara is among the villages in Sullia taluk, along with Mandekolu and Aletty, where pachyderms from the forest frequently stray into agriculture land.