Kushalnagar,Apr 3 (DHNS): Six elephants, including a young one, were rescued from a slush pond of Chikkathota coffee estate near Kedakal near Suntikoppa in the taluk on Thursday.

Forest officials said that told Deccan Herald that the elephants might have entered the estate from the forest in search of food on Wednesday night. The young elephant stuck in the slush pond when it went there either to drink water or play. The other five elephants, including its mother, got into the pond in a bid to save it and stuck in the slush. They tried a lot to come out of it all through the night but in vain. Their cry went futile, the forest officials said.

The estate workers and villagers found the elephants struggling to come out of the pond on Thursday morning and informed the matter to the forest officials.

Later, the officials visited the spot and tried to take them out of the pond and drive away to forest again. Only one elephant came out and ran into the forest.

They used an earthmover and made way for the elephants to come out of the pond. The other five elephants came out of the pond safely and went to the forest.

All the elephants - one two-month-old, two two-year-old and the rest big - are healthy, Kushalnagar Range Forest Officer Chinnappa said. Anekadu Forest Officer Ranjan, personnel Sathish, Ganesh, Medappa, Raghavendra, Narayana and others took part in the operation.