Staff from India's Forest Department on Saturday (October 31st) helped save the life of a wild baby elephant which fell into a well.

A herd of 14 elephants was seen moving towards a paddy field at a village in Badabahal forest range in Sambalpur district in eastern India.

A two-year-old calf fell into a 15-foot-deep abandoned well and could not get out.

Hearing the distressed cries of the herd, villagers informed the Rairakhol forest department, which sent a rescue team to the village.

The rescuers used diggers and a tractor to open one side of the water source in the hope that the young elephant to crawl to safety.

The animal struggled to haul itself to freedom, however, due to the muddy, slippery conditions.

As the officials watched anxiously, the exhausted calf made repeated attempts to climb out and finally succeeded after nearly five hours.

It was a tense rescue as the elephant herd stood closeby looking agitated.

Rescuers anticipated an attack from the herd and were nervous.

There was indeed a moment when a young bull tried to charge towards the well and had to be driven back by a mechanical digger.

Luckily, the herd moved away without any incident afterwards and the calf was reunited with the group.

A herd of 14 elephants were seen moving towards a paddy field at a village in Badabahal forest range in Sambalpur district in eastern India on the evening of October 31.

A two-year-old calf fell into a 15-feet abandoned well and was trapped. Hearing the distressed cries of the herd, villagers informed the Rairakhol forest department, which sent a rescue team to save the calf.

A team of officials worked furiously with two earth diggers and a tractor to dig a path out of the well. But the elephant calf found it very difficult to come out of the well as the as the slush in the well made the climb slippery.

As the officials watched anxiously the exhausted calf made repeated attempts to climb out and finally succeeded after nearly five hours of the rescue work.

It was a tense rescue as the elephant herd stood closeby looking agitated. Rescue officials anticipated an attack from the herd and were nervous. There was indeed a moment when a young bull tried to charge towards the well and had to be driven back by an earth digger.

But luckily the herd moved away without any incident after the calf climbed out and ran towards it.

Divisional Forest Officer Pradipta Kumar Sahu said: "The baby elephant fell into the 15-feet deep well when the elephants strayed into the area. We deployed two earth diggers and a tractor to rescue it.”