The Gudalur Division of the Nilgiris Forest Department rescued a male Indian Gaur that had fallen into an abandoned septic tank in the Barwood area in O’Valley Range on Sunday.
Workers in the nearby estates noticed that the animal, weighing close to a tonne, had fallen into the cramped septic tank on Sunday morning and informed Forest Department officials. The animal was closely confined within the tank, and the department staff had to be careful so as not to injure the animal while rescuing it even as they kept safe themselves.
The highly agitated animal is believed to have gotten stuck in the tank sometime early on Sunday morning.
Forest department officials could not use a ramp to coax the animal out as there was not enough room to manoeuvre the incline. Hence, they came up with the idea of using an earth digger to carefully demolish the outer walls of the tank, thereby creating an incline for the animal to climb out.
Carefully directed by the watching forest staff, the earth mover was used to demolish the wall without injuring the animal. Less than 20 minutes after the operation began, the visibly relieved gaur managed to get out of the well and fled into the surrounding forests.
The abandoned tank was also covered up by department staff to prevent such instances from recurring.
Gudalur District Forest Officer P.K. Dileep said the animal did not suffer any major injuries; it seemed to be healthy and forest staff were keeping a close watch on its movements. “From the very beginning, our focus was to facilitate the escape of the animal from the tank by gently removing the soil, and our staff managed to accomplish this very capably,” he added.
