クレーンで無事救出、井戸に落ちた野生ゾウ　インド

【ダルマプリＡＦＰ＝時事】インド南部タミルナド州ダルマプリで19日、井戸に落ちた野生のゾウが16時間に及ぶ救出活動の末、クレーンで引き上げられた。（写真はインド南部タミルナド州ダルマプリで、井戸に落ちクレーンで救出されるゾウ）
　ゾウは先週、食べ物を探して村に迷い込み、深さ２０メートルを超える井戸に転落。地元の森林警備隊員によると、ゾウは犬の群れから逃げようとしていた可能性があるという。
　駆け付けた森林警備隊や消防隊は、投げ矢を使い全長２．４メートルのゾウに鎮静剤を打った。
　夜になり、多くの村人が見守る中、隊員らは井戸の底に下りてゾウの足にストラップを取り付けると、クレーンで引き上げ、逆さまの状態でゾウを井戸から救出した。
　警備隊は３０分ほどゾウの様子を観察した後、森に帰した。
　インドには３万頭近くのゾウが生息しており、うち約６０％を野生のアジアゾウが占める。しかし、都市部が拡大するにつれ、ゾウと人間の間で衝突が発生している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/11/24-12:14）

A wild elephant that fell into a well in southern India was lifted out with a crane following a 16-hour rescue mission involving dozens of rangers and firefighters.
The elephant fell more than 20 metres (70 feet) after it wandered into a village in Tamil Nadu state last week while looking for food.
Villagers heard sounds and saw the animal had fallen into the well, local forest ranger Rajkumar told AFP. He said they believed it might have been trying to escape from a pack of dogs.
Frightened at first, villagers called authorities when they realised it could die unless rescued.
Some 50 rangers and firefighters rushed to the village, where they initially tried to pump water out of the well -- but the scared creature kept pushing away the equipment they were using.
The rescuers then tried shooting the 2.4-metre (eight-foot) elephant with tranquilliser darts.
Out of the three times we tried, we succeeded twice, Rajkumar said.
As night fell, watched on by a large crowd of villagers, rescuers climbed down into the well and attached straps to the sedated animal's feet. They then used a crane to hoist the elephant out upside down.
It was monitored by rangers for half an hour before being ushered back into the forest.
India is home to nearly 30,000 elephants, around 60 percent of the wild Asian elephant population.
But urban expansion has put them in conflict with humans.
About 2,360 people were killed in elephant attacks between 2014 and 2019, according to Indian government data.
In the same period about 510 elephants died, including 333 from electrocution and around 100 from poaching and poisoning, the figures show.
Earlier this year in the southern state of Kerala, a plantation worker was arrested when a pregnant elephant died after eating fruit laced with explosives.
His plan was to keep wild boar from raiding a plantation.