Midnapore: Long before dawn broke over the red-soil fields of Musna village, a mother stood guard beside a dark, silent well — calling out into the night for her fallen child. Little did she know that these calls would unite villagers and foresters who would strive through the night to rescue her little one.Around 1am on Wednesday, while an elephant herd was moving through farmlands, the two-and-a-half-year-old calf slipped into a 20-foot-deep open well in the Ranja beat area under the Pirakata Range of Midnapore Sadar block. What followed pierced the stillness of the night. A loud splash. Then frantic trumpeting. The mother elephant circled the well in panic, her distress calls echoing across the fields. She tried repeatedly to reach her trapped calf, leaning in, pacing, refusing to leave. The cries roused villagers from their sleep.Within minutes, men and women gathered at the site, keeping a cautious distance as they alerted forest officials. As forest personnel reached the spot, the mother was still there — tense, protective and unwilling to move away from the well. “The mother elephant charged at first. But when she seemed to realise that we came to help, she gradually moved away,” said ranger Subhashish Choudhury. Members of a hula party were deployed to keep the rest of the 23-member herd from approaching the site.Temporary floodlights were set up and the rescue began in earnest. An earthmover was brought in to carve out a slope along the side of the well. But the hard, gravelly soil resisted. Digging beyond six feet proved nearly impossible. Time was slipping by, and the calf inside the well was tiring. Rescuers then pumped water into the well to keep the young animal from exhaustion. Bundles of hay were lowered to provide buoyancy and cushioning. Slowly, painstakingly, the calf began to push upwards.For nearly four hours, villagers and forest staffers worked shoulder to shoulder, whispering strategies, coordinating movements, all the while mindful of the mother who watched from a short distance. Then, around 5.30am, just as the first light of dawn brushed the horizon, the calf reached near the mouth of the well. “The exhausted but unharmed calf was successfully pulled out by the mother herself,” a forest official said. The pair slowly walked back towards the forest, disappearing into the trees.A tense night had ended with a reunion at sunrise.
