This is the incredible moment when a JCB digger saves a baby elephant and its mother after falling into an abandoned well in India.
The mother elephant and its calf are seen in the huge pool of murky grey water in the video filmed yesterday in Sambalpur, eastern India.
Because of steep mud banks on all sides, they cannot escape, so the digger digs away to create a less steep path of egress.
The mother waits in the water with her calf clinging as close to her as possible, while the digger works on the mud.
The calf’s body is so tiny that only its head rises above the water.
When the path is more apparent, the mother attempts to climb up the bank once again, but she slips back into the water.
However, on her second try, she goes down the bank in a diagonal line before making a loud sound with her trunk.
Residents who had been gathered to observe beside the well then scurry away.
The calf followed its mother into the forest after it had climbed out of the well.
They said the entire operation to rescue the elephants, which fell into a well the night before, took less than three hours.
