Goalpara, Dec 3 (PTI) Six elephants were trapped in the same muddy pond on Thursday night in Assam’s Goalpara district where five other pachyderms had been struck a day before, an official said.
All the elephants were rescued successfully and chased back into nearby forested areas, he said.
In the latest case, six elephants of a herd fell into the pond late on Thursday night and the Forest Department was alerted by the locals this morning after they found the jumbos unable to come out of the waterbody, the official said.
The rescue team used excavators to dig up a side of the pond enabling the pachyderms to come out of the waterbody before returning to the forest, he said.
Five other elephants had slipped into the same pond on Wednesday night and were rescued and chased back to the forest in a similar manner by Forest department personnel on Thursday.
The official further said to ensure that such an incident does not recur, the sides of the pond have been evenly dug up so that elephants can safely drink water from the waterbody and return.
Elephants routinely venture in the area in search of food and water, locals said.