A young elephant was rescued after falling into a muddy pond in Thailand.

The ten-year-old wild jumbo stopped by a village to drink water but ended up trapped on the bottom of the 7ft-deep pit in Nakhon Nayok province, on April 24.

It was heard crying for help by a villager who found the elephant struggling to climb the slippery banks without success.

National park officers then used a digger to create a sloped pathway onto the higher ground so the hapless jumbo could clamber to safety.

Resident Anuwat Rakprom said: ‘I heard strange cries from the back of my house and went to check what it was. I saw the elephant swimming in the water but it appeared to be struggling to climb up.

‘I decided to call for help when it tried to walk up but slid down the slippery mud while appearing to be frustrated.’

Park officers lured the jumbo into the freshly-carved pathway and the elephant was freed after around two hours of the rescue operation.

The wild jumbo was then led back into the forest where it could join back its herd.

Wildlife officer Anutin said: 'The elephant is young, so this is probably the first time it has happened to him. I think that he will learn from what happened and avoid these kinds of water collection pits.'

Elephants are the national animal of Thailand. An estimated 2,000 elephants are living in the wild and a similar number in captivity.

In the wild, they roam through the deep jungle and in the country’s protected national parks but often encounter humans on roads and in villages.