Baby Elephant Rescued From Open Drain in Sri Lanka

Some good Samaritans where caught on tape saving the calf.

ByABC News
May 30, 2016, 11:20 AM

— -- It took several people, including a wildlife rescue team, to pull a baby elephant from the open drain into which it had fallen Sunday in an underdeveloped Sri Lankan town.

Officials knocked out the shallow but narrow drain, which had concrete walls, to make room for the rescue.

The good Samaritans are then seen in a video of the event tying ropes around the forelegs of the frightened calf and, after a few attempts, pulling the animal out of the drain.

PHOTO: An elephant calf is rescued from an open drain it fell into, in a Sri Lankan town on May 29, 2016.
An elephant calf is rescued from an open drain it fell into, in a Sri Lankan town on May 29, 2016.

The calf was reportedly whisked away for medical attention after suffering what is believed to have been a broken leg.

Elephants are apparently common on the streets of Hambantota, a southern port town, where the wild animals roam freely in competition with humans.

PHOTO: An elephant calf is rescued from an open drain it fell into, in a Sri Lankan town on May 29, 2016.
An elephant calf is rescued from an open drain it fell into, in a Sri Lankan town on May 29, 2016.