A huge elephant was rescued from a mud pit after it slipped into it after the slippery edge gave way under its weight.
Touching footage shows the moment villagers try to haul him out with ropes before excavators with a JCB were called to dig him out.
An elephant was freed from a mud pit after it fell in while trying to take drink as the slippery edge gave way under its weight
Shivasankaran the tusker elephant was taken to have a bath in a rainwater tank in the town of Pathanamthitta in southern India but went to the pit instead
The huge mammal saw a muddy pit nearby and went to drink water from it, but was too heavy for the soft ground around it
Villagers arrived with an excavator to dig Shivasankaran out but the machinery also got bogged in the muddy ground, making it useless.
Villagers arrived with an excavator to dig Shivasankaran out. The first one got bogged but a second one proved effective
They then attached several ropes to the elephant’s body to pull him out once the pit was opened up
Dozens of villagers grabbed ropes they tied around the elephant in an effort to haul him out of the pit
Hundreds of others watched on as the elephant rescue became the most interesting event in the town
They eventually got a bigger excavator that could be positioned on firmer ground and finally freed the stricken elephant uninjured.
Shivasankaran was eventually freed uninjured form the pit and stood upright
He then wandered home under the watchful eye of his mahout and villagers