The 10-year-old elephant, which accidentally fell into a 45-foot deep well, was today rescued and sent to the Periyanaickenopalayam forest division.

The male elephant, part of a herd which came in search of water in Kovanur village, accidentally fell into the well on Tuesday night and was noticed by the villagers the next morning.

The efforts by forest department officials, with the help of the fire and rescue department, did not succeed yesterday owing to lack of hands and equipment.

Drawing additional force from the police and NGOs, forest authorities brought a crane and lifted the elephant which was earlier tranquilised by forest veterinarian Ashokan.

The rescue operation today took four hours after which the elephant was left to move into the forest, officials said.