Residents of Welikanda in Sri Lanka were faced with a huge problem on Friday: how to remove a wild elephant stuck at the bottom of a deep well.

Locals first noticed the terrified animal on Friday morning and realised there was no way it was going to haul itself from the 25-feet-deep water source.

They used a digger to enlarge the well and then created a kind of exit ramp for the elephant.

Unfortunately, some rocks and other debris fell on the wild creature during the rescue effort.

However, after one and a half hours of digging, the elephant was freed and quickly ran to the safety of the jungle.