A video depicting the rescue operation of a baby elephant from a reservoir it fell into is generating various reactions on Twitter. The footage of the elephant calf’s evacuation was posted on the micro-blogging site by Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Parveen Kaswan, who narrated the details of the incident.
Kaswan said the baby jumbo’s rescue operation was started after watchtower staff alerted the control room about the incident. Following this, a patrolling party was the first to reach the site and local range staff followed. The IFS officer further said a mobile squad was called in as backup, and a vet team for care.
The rescue operation ran for three to four hours during which the forest officials broke down the walls of the reservoir partially to make way for the elephant calf to come out. The authorities then safely evacuated the baby elephant and reunited it with the family. Baby jumbo’s mother, Kaswan said, was observing the entire operation from a safe distance.
Kiddo fell into reservoir from where water was being supplied to village. Territorial team, wildlife squad II & vet team reached on time. Was rescued & happily united with family. Mother was watching from safe. Our team. pic.twitter.com/NqSnhH94Rs— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) May 23, 2021
The video by the IFS officer has generated nearly 70,000 views and over 4,000 likes since it was uploaded on May 23. Netizens lauded Kaswan and the forest officials, but many also provided suggestions to avoid such incidents in future.
A fellow IFS officer praised the team for their dedication and timely action.
Wonderful. What a team work with dedication? Kudos to all team members for this timely action. Mother elephant's blessings will be there with them forever.— Mohan Chandra Pargaien IFS मोहन चंद्र परगाईं (@pargaien) May 23, 2021
Another user said every life is worth living and the video made his day.
Just want to make you feel that life is worth living,this mafe my day, thanks zillion— Ranjan Chacko (@ChackoRanjan) May 23, 2021
This man shared dialogue to express his appreciation for the forest team.
pic.twitter.com/koSeKTwACv— Bharat Jesani । भारत जेसानी (@Bharat_Jesani_) May 23, 2021
However, many Twitter users complained about the lack of proper resources with the forest team for the evacuation. The officials were seen breaking the reservoir’s wall manually.
A user wondered whether the forest officials could be provided with standard equipment like the ones used by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
Great..but don’t you think that the team should be provided some standard rescue devices like those @NDRFHQ uses?!— Dr. Sarit K. Das 🍃 (@lucanojade) May 23, 2021
Another user said the reservoir should not have been destroyed for the rescue operation.
Wish we did not have to destroy the village reservoir— Nikhil Dawar (@NikhilDawar) May 23, 2021
While one user held man-made hurdles responsible for the baby elephant’s fall in the reservoir.
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