Kodagu (Karnataka), Jul 27 (IANS): After a nearly three-hour-long arduous operation, a one-and-a-half-year-old elephant was rescued by the forest officials in Karnataka's Kodagu district on Tuesday.

According to Rajappa, the range forest officer of Kushalnagar, the baby elephant had fallen into a toilet pit that was built in an estate but was covered with wooden planks.

"The incident occurred at Bhadragola near Devarapura village in Kushalnagar taluk of Kodagu district. After the calf fell into the cesspit, unable to find a way to come up, its desperate calls drew the attention of M.M. Subramani, who owns the coffee estate where the cesspit is located," the officer said.

According to the forest officials, the calf may have fallen into the pit on Monday night or early on Tuesday morning, and it could be part of a herd of elephants that passes through this estate.

Rajappa, who led the rescue operation, said that they had to take the help of a domesticated elephant to drag the calf out of the cesspit using thick rope, after their efforts to use wooden planks to bring the baby elephant out failed twice.

He added that though the forest officials were initially contemplating to use a tranquiliser to rescue the calf, the idea had to be dropped owing to the animal's young age and exhaustion level.

The forest officials feel that the herd will come back to pick up its missing member, and as of now, they don't have any plan to take the calf to the nearby Duabre elephant training camp.

"We will keep at the place where the herd is expected to come in search of the calf," an official said.