What would you do if you saw an animal in trouble?
These people got a chance to find out when they saw a baby elephant struggling for survival.
Tourists were visiting the Kapani Safari Lodge in Zambia when they saw something they would not soon forget. A baby elephant and her mother were fighting to escape from a deep mud lagoon. The baby had fallen into the lagoon, and her mother had charged in after her in an attempt to rescue her.
Instead, the two became hopelessly stuck in the lagoon. The staff and visitors could not believe their eyes – they were determined to help the elephants. What they did next was incredible.
The situation was dire. The elephants tried desperately to free themselves from the mud, but after many failed attempts it was obvious they could not escape the mud alone.
The elephants’ plight pulled on the heartstrings of spectators as other elephants from the herd began to cry. Soon the members of the herd were standing around the lagoon, wailing over the fate of their herd mates.
The people were determined to help the elephants escape the mud. Working together under the authority of the South Luanga Conservation Society and local wildlife officials, the men fastened a rope around the baby elephant and slowly pulled her to safety.
She was not free for long, though – the baby was so worried about her mother that she rushed back into the mud to be with her.
The men rescued the baby elephant again. This time she joined her herd while the men faced the dilemma of how to save the mother. The mommy elephant had spent all her energy helping her daughter escape, and she was too tired to carry herself out of the mud.
She was too big to be pulled out by people, but the team quickly came up with another plan.
They wrapped a rope around her and attached it to a tractor. As the tractor drew the elephant, she felt a rush of energy and leaped out of the mud. The mother and daughter immediately reunited, and the two left with the rest of the herd.
“[It was] heartwarming to see how many local people joined in the efforts to free the two elephants,” the staff of the Kapani Safari Lodge told CNN. “It was the happiest possible ending.”
The people who helped these two elephants escape the mud lagoon are true heroes. Their dedication to helping the elephants is an inspiration to animal lovers everywhere.
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