An elephant that fell 50ft down a well after being chased by a pack of dogs was hauled to safety by a crane yesterday.

The young animal fell down the well in the village of Panchapali in southern India’s Tamil Nadu.

An elephant that fell 50ft down a well after being chased by a pack of dogs is hauled to safety by a crane in the village of Panchapali in southern India’s Tamil Nadu yesterday

The elephant was rescued after a sixteen hour struggle by a team of wildlife veterinarians led by Dr Prakash

The veterinarians administer tranquilising darts to the elephant at the bottom of the well before attaching belts to pull the animal to the surface

In the video, the animal is winched out while sedated and then regains consciousness on solid ground.

The veterinarians were lowered into the deep well to administer tranquilising darts to the stricken animal.

It was then tied to a heavy-duty crane on the ground using rope-like belts and lifted to the surface.

The animal had been roaming around in the region with two other elephants for the past few days.

Footage shows the elephant being pulled out of the well to the cheers of large crowds who had gathered around

The elephant is winched out while sedated and then regains consciousness on solid ground

District Forest Officers S Prabhu from Krishnagiri and Rajkumar from Dharmapuri oversaw the rescue operation with over 50 other officials from the Forest Department, Fire Department and local police.