Baby elephant rescued from a well in India

A baby elephant, likely looking for its mother, tumbled into a well near Bundu in the state of Jharkhand in east India last Wednesday.

The elephant's rescue 12 hours later was caught on video.

The forestry service responded to the in-distress animal with a bulldozer. Rescuers spent five hours digging out a sloped path to help the young pachyderm climb to safety. Onlookers cheered as the elephant escaped the well unharmed.

"A slope was dug into the well, which helped the elephant come out," said Arjun Badaik, assistant conservator of forests Khunti division.

The well wasn't fenced, was unused, and was "not more than 12 feet deep," the Times of India reports. Bushes covered the well from all sides, making it hard to spot.

"Lack of visibility might have led to the elephant's fall," said a forester.

The Times of India reported that the lost elephant was later returned to the nearby jungle.