Elephant stranded for hours in Chalakudy river

Thrissur (Ker):  A wild elephant was found stranded in the middle of Chalakudy river for several hours in this district on Tuesday after heavy rainfall in the area during the night raised its water level by nearly 5 metres.

After several hours of valiant attempts, the elephant managed to get close to the safety of the forest on the other side.

Forest officials monitoring the situation told media that the tusker will now be able to move into the forest safely as the water currents close to the forest were comparatively slower.

The tusker was stranded in the middle of the river on a small piece of land for several hours, as the river raged around the animal which has stymied rescue attempts by fire force and forest officials who are gathered at the spot close to the Athirappilly water falls.

Subsequently, during its attempts to cross the river, the tusker got swept several meters downstream and managed to hang on to a broken tree in the middle of the river.

Thereafter, it slowly managed to move closer to the other side of the river and then disappeared from view, raising hopes that it will soon reach the safety of the forest.

Visuals on TV channels showed the tusker periodically dipping its trunk in the river to assess the water depth as it tried to move towards the other side.

The elephant during the night had come out of the forest into the nearby habitat looking for food and while returning, got stranded in the river, locals said.