Hump-ty dumpty: Dramatic rescue of camel which spent 12 hours stuck in muddy mangrove

An unfortunate camel stuck in mud was at the centre of a dramatic rescue mission in western India.

Grumpy camel gets the hump after spending 12 hours stuck in the mud

The animal, a rare Kharai camel, had sunk to its stomach among the mangroves and the rescue party spent over an hour to help it out of the mud.

Its concerned owner spotted the camel trapped in the mud near his home in the village of Nimrivand 12 hours earlier, but was unable to help until morning came and the tide was low.

A helping hump: The poor camel had spent 12 hours int he mud when the rescue team finally arrived at the mangrove forest to help set it free

In the early hours the owner and four helpers rowed out to the mangroves armed with a piece of rope.

After a lot of tugging and screams from the distressed animal, the camel could be freed.

Despite spending the night in the dirt, it escaped with no other physical harm than dehydration and was able to return to feed on the mangroves nearby.

The heroic rescue effort was captured by photographer Ishaan Raghunandan, 24.

Ishaan said: ‘I couldn’t believe it, as soon as the camel was freed, it just walked off until it got onto some more stable land and just started eating away at the vegetation.

Hump-ty dumpty: The owner and fellow helpers tie a rope around the distressed animal stuck in the dirt

Heave ho! The five men start to pull the rope to free the camel from its sticky prison, they themselves sinking down to their knees

‘It was a long walk once we reached the other bank but once we saw the camel the Maldhari people I was with got into action quite fast.

‘All I had to do was make sure I didn’t lose balance as I moved around in the slush.

‘It was so interesting to be able to watch the dramatic rescue and that made it worth walking through the knee- deep, broken shell infested slush to reach get there.

‘It was a perfect situation in the end really because the camel escaped unharmed and I managed to get some good pictures.’

Get me out! The camel bellows at the camera as the owner tries to figure out the safest way to get it unstuck

Good effort: The five men get the camel partly out of the ground before it sinks in again

Mudbath: The camel scrambles in the wet dirt as it tries to find solid ground

Final pull: It has been nearly an hour and the exhausted animal is covered in mud

The Kharai camel, also known as Indus deltaic camel, is a particular breed of camel native to the area, famous for its exceptional swimming skills.

It is the only camel to feed on mangrove and will spend three days in the watery forests before they swim back to the mainland to fill their hump with water.

The Kharai camel can swim up to three kilometres into the sea in search of mangroves, which is their main source of food.

The breed is under threat due to exploitation of the mangroves, leaving the camels malnourished and vulnerable to disease.