Thrissur (Kerala) | A male wild elephant fell into a well on a private property in this district in the small hours of Tuesday and died before it could be rescued.

A forest official said that the information about the jumbo being trapped in the well was received around 2 am and teams including veterinary doctors had rushed to the spot.

The forest officials team immediately began rescue operations by using an earth excavator to create a path for the tusker to come out of the well, he said.

However, before the operations could be completed, the elephant died around 8 am, the official said.

He said that the forest officials were now in the process of taking out the elephant's carcass and it would be examined to ascertain the exact cause of death.

The well was located in a private property barely 200 meters from the forest, the official said, adding that such incidents were rare in Thrissur and very disheartening.

Recently, there have been several reported incidents of wild elephants falling into wells in the state and each time the jumbos have been rescued.