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Help! Baby elephant stuck 

after falling down manhole

 The baby elephant had to be helped out of the hole 

His startled expression and pleading eyes say it all.

Left stranded in a rather undignified position, this poor baby elephant was in need of some urgent help after he managed to wedge himself in a manhole in Thailand.

After missing his footing and falling down the gaping manhole of a drainage ditch the poor animalwas left well and truly stuck.

The unfortunate accident took place while the elephant was out walking in the street with its owner in Rayong province, in the east of the country.

The baby had been taken out to work in the street by a mahout - the men who drive the elephants - but must not have been looking where he was going.

Rescuers spent three hours freeing the elephant, who was unharmed, by using a bulldozer to widen the hole.

While elephants are used to move large heavy objects in Thailand, many of the animals in Rayong province are trained to carry tourists on elephant treks through the jungle.

Mahouts also use elephants to beg on the streets of many large Thai cities and baby elephants, with their cute eyes and hairy heads, are among the most sought after.

Baby elephants are often taught tricks to appeal to tourists and, although it is illegal in many cities, work the streets with their owners from early in the morning to late at night.

Mahouts control the elephants using a small number of commands and a sharp hook, known as an angkus.

Last month a 14-year-old female elephant was electrocuted in Rayong when she accidentally brushed against a naked electrical cable.

Elephants killed when they are hit by a TRAIN

File photo

Elephants killed when they are hit by a

TRAIN speeding through the jungle

Elephants part of a herd crossing railroad tracks in eastern India
Passenger train hit herd - killing two adult females and one calf instantly
Another died later from its injuries

Four elephants have been killed after they became trapped on a railway line and were hit by a speeding train.
The elephants were part of a herd crossing the railroad tracks in eastern India when the express passenger train ploughed into them.
Two adult female elephants and one calf were killed at the scene while another died later from its injuries.


Railway spokesman Jayant Sharma said the accident site was outside the state's elephant corridor and there was no warning from the forest department about the movement of the elephants.
Dozens of elephants have died in recent years in such accidents as trains run through national parks and forests. Activists have called for trains to lower their speeds through such areas.
India's wild elephant population was recently estimated at about 26,000.