Locals and forest rangers worked together to rescue a baby elephant that had fallen into an open farm well in southern India.

The little one fell into the well when its herd entered farmland in Tholkudy Sudarshan on Wednesday night (March 6).

Unable to pull the baby out of their own, the elephants started running amok and trumpeting intermittently.

Local villagers were woken up by the herd's desperate cries. They initially didn't venture out of their houses fearing attack from the herd. But soon they mustered the courage to call the forest rangers and informed them about the incident.

Once the rescue team arrived, the villagers and forest rangers tried to chase the herd members away from the well where the baby had fallen. However, the efforts to drive away the elephants came to a nought.

They could start the operation only after the day broke and the herd moved to the nearby forest by around 7 am.

According to forest officials, earth movers were deployed to break one side of the wall of the well to make a ramp for the baby to climb out.

After a five-hour-long operation, the baby elephant wriggled and climbed out of the well at around 11.30 am on Thursday (March 7). It crossed the river and entered the forest to join the herd, which was waiting impatiently around 500m from the well.

Though the elephant had sustained bruises on its trunk after it fell into the well, the Forest veterinarian Fiji Fernandes said it was healthy.

A 10-month-old female elephant accidentally fell into an open farm well while a herd of 15 tuskers were raiding a field on Wednesday night in Ernakulam district of south Indian state of Kerala.

After being alerted by villagers the forest arrived at the spot in Manikandanchal under Kuttampuzha forest range near Pooyamkutty.

According to Kuttampuzha range officer S Rajan, a herd of around 15 elephants crossed the river and entered the farmland of Tholkudy Sudarshan on Wednesday night.

As the baby elephant fell into the well, the herd gathered around the well and tried to rescue it.

Unable to pull the baby out of their own, the elephant started running amok and trumpeting intermittently.

Local villagers were woken up by the herd's desperate cries. They initially didn't venture out of their houses fearing attack from the herd. But soon they mustered courage to call the forest rangers and informed them about the incident.

Once the rescue team arrived, the villages and forest rangers tried to chase the herd members away from the well where the baby had fallen. However, the efforts to drive away the elephants came to a nought.

They could start the operation only after the day broke and the herd moved to the nearby forest by around 7 am.

According to forest officials, earth movers were deployed to break one side of the wall of the well to make a ramp for the baby to climb out.

After a five-hour-long operation, the baby elephant wriggled and climbed out of the well at around 11.30 am on Thursday. It crossed the river and entered the forest to join the herd, which was waiting impatiently around 500 m from the spot. Though the elephant had sustained bruises on its trunk as it fell into the well, the Forest veterinary doctor Fiji Fernandes said it was healthy.

After coming of the well, the baby looked a little angry and eager to meet its family. So it started to charge at its rescuers who somehow managed to avoid being hit by the baby.