Like humans, elephants embrace the family unit. The parents lead their children with care and discipline, and their is nothing they wouldn’t do for their babies. You’ll never guess what these two elephants did when their little one was in trouble.
It was a sunny day as two elephants were playing at the edge of a pool inside the Grand Park Zoo in Seoul, South Korea. Suddenly, disaster struck when the calf fell all the way into the water. The mother instantly began to panic. No one could have guessed what happened next.
The baby fell in head first and hit the surface of the water with a big splash. She began to panic because she did not know how to swim. The baby tried desperately to grasp the edge of the pool and pull herself back out onto the land, but her attempts were unsuccessful. All the while the mama elephant’s anxiety grew.
As the baby splashed around, the mother tried to stretch out her trunk. She just couldn’t reach her drowning calf! Another adult elephant, who had been grazing on the other side of the pool, quickly came to the rescue. The two stood together at the edge of the water, extending their trunks out as far as they would go.
The calf was totally terrified. She spun around in circles hoping that the adults could pull her out. As she realized they would not be able to help her from the edge of the pool, she paddled across toward the other side. The two elephants ran alongside the pool and splashed into the water to greet her. They would not rest until she was safe.
The two elephants pushed the baby toward the side of the pool and held her in their grasp. Once she was tucked away, the two began to leave the way they had come. The three marched out of the water, pleased that the ordeal was over. They shuffled away from the pool as a family, relieved that everyone was alright.
Elephants are brave creatures – they are never afraid to dash into the water to help someone. For more heroic elephant escapades, check out this video of an elephant rescuing a man caught in the current.
It is amazing what lengths elephants will go to in order to protect their young. This story reminds us how fortunate we are to have loved ones who help us in bad situations.
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