Coimbatore : Forest department officials rescued a one-month-old elephant calf which accidentally fell into a 10-foot deep water tank at Periyathadagam on the city outskirts early today.

Hearing the trumpeting sound of an elephant near Anuvavi temple, villagers alerted the department officials and anti-poaching squad around 4 am.

Officials who reached the spot managed to drive away the mother elephant and three others for some distance as the herd waspreventing them from going near the calf, department sources said.

The tank was partially demolished using an earth mover to make way for the calf to climb and with the help of squad members it was brought out and restored to its mother and herd. The whole exercise took around half an hour.