An injured baby elephant was rescued from a water tank after becoming separated from its mother in a dramatic two-hour operation involving army personnel, ropes and an excavator.
Footage shows the stricken calf thrashing around in the deep water in the reservoir tank in Guwahati, northeastern India on Sunday - after the baby and its mother fell in while trying to drink some water.
The pair were spotted during a routine perimeter patrol of the 14 Ammunition Depot at Narangi Cantonment, and the baby was visibly in pain.
The baby elephant struggles in a reservoir tank, at an army depot in Guwahati, northeastern India, on Sunday.
Army personnel are seen grabbing it by its trunk and legs in an effort to pull it to safety
An excavator is also brought in to aid the rescue operation. Above, several men try to grab the calf, which fell into the tank, along with its mother, alat berat kendal when the pair tried to drink the water
The mother elephant, to the left, unwittingly hinders the rescue.
It is believed the two elephants strayed into the 14 Ammunition Depot at Narangi Cantonment from the nearby Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary
Around seven men initially try to haul the baby out by grabbing its ears and trunk, while its mother is seen farther away from the edge.
Struggling to get a firm grip on the calf, several more men join them, while the excavator is primed to assist, with a barrel attached to help nudge the beast out of the water - along with another digger flanking it.
The men also use ropes to free the animal, while shooing away its parent with a pole, as she unwittingly hinders the operation.
Eventually the men - numbering around a dozen at this point - managed to haul out the calf, and later its mother, which had become separated from the rest of the herd.
<img id="i-a4dd838e206c4f3f" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" website height="480" width="634" alt="Eventually, the pair were hauled out of the tank.