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An ailing female elephant, which had injuries all over its body and was refusing to leave the Sigurhalla river in the Singara range in the Nilgiris North division, was pulled to safety by five kumki elephants on Sunday morning.
S. Kanthan, forest range officer, Singara range, said that efforts had been underway to rescue the elephant since Saturday. As the river was in spate, they were unsuccessful. The operation began early in the morning and was completed in less than 30 minutes, with Conservator of Forests (Coimbatore Circle), S Ramasubramaniam, overseeing it.
An earthmover was used to make a ramp leading from the river to dry land, and five kumkis — Vijay, Cheran, Wasim, Bama and Kamatchi — were used to pull the animal out of the river.
Forest veterinarian N S Manoharan was at hand to provide care to the animal, which had been standing in the river for the last five days.