Elephant rescued from ocean 10 miles off Sri Lanka coast

An elephant has been rescued from the ocean about 10 miles (16km) off Sri Lanka’s north-east coast, the country’s navy has said.

Navy personnel said the pachyderm was caught in a current off the coast near the town of Kokkilai and dragged into the ocean, where it was spotted by a patrol boat.

Department of Wildlife officials and another navy vessel were despatched to the area and helped drag the animal back to shore in a 12-hour rescue.

Divers aided by wildlife officials approached the distressed elephant and tied ropes to it, before towing it gently to shallow waters near the coast, where it was released.

Avinash Krishnan, a research officer with the conservation group A Rocha, said the discovery of the animal so far from land was less remarkable than it seemed.

“They’re very good swimmers,” he said. “Swimming about 15km from the shore is not unusual for an elephant.”

But he added that the navy’s intervention was probably still necessary. “They can’t keep swimming for long because they burn a lot of energy,” he said.