Throughout time, humans have always bonded with animals. Their curious behavior is something that has attracted many of us to study their habits.
One animal, in particular- the elephant, has marveled us with their gigantic ears and peculiar trunks.
So it was no surprise that when a group of wildlife officials found a baby elephant stuck in a ditch, they immediately knew it was time to help out.
The incident occurred in Kerala, India where the family of the poor baby elephants watched in horror on the other side of the river as their kin lay helpless.
[imgsrc caption="YouTube-Magister Tuskers" link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEDHRh8gfm8"]
The locals and wildlife officials quickly sprung into action.
They used an earthmover to dig out the surrounding dirt from the hole in order to create space for the youngling. You could tell the baby elephant was growing desperate to get out by the way his trunk erratically moved.
After moments of continuous digging, the hole finally widens and allows the elephant to set his two front feet on the surface above to gain momentum for a lift. Immediately, the family of elephants come rushing to their kin’s aid and sound their trunks joyously.
The sight of the reunion is guaranteed to melt your heart into pieces.
The celebration is accompanied by the human helpers giving loud cheers as they can finally give a huge sigh of relief.
The crew felt extremely satisfied with the collaborative effort it took to save the baby elephant and it clearly showed. The best part about it all was when it was finally time for the family to take off, one of the older elephants paused and directed his attention towards the crew. What came next showed why all the effort was well worth it.
The humble elephant saluted and thanked the humans for their courageous work. It did so by waiving its trunk to express its gratitude!
Elephants are no stranger to showing empathy. In fact, researchers in Kenya have reported mother elephants and other adult females help their baby elephants to climb up out of holes and muddy banks and to find a safe path into a swamp or even break through electrified fences.
In addition, scientists have even reported observing elephants helping others that are injured or who are in distress. Other qualitative observations of elephants displaying affection are when researchers observed an elephant struggling to help a dying friend by lifting her with her tusks and trunk and also calling out for help.
In this clip, we could see the elephants were riled up with great discomfort seeing their young in peril.
After the young elephant returns, we can see them using soothing noises to attempt to comfort it after experiencing such a traumatic event. It demonstrates that elephants do indeed place value in organic life and carry their adorable hearts on their sleeves.
In the late 20th century in South Africa, a group of wildlife officials permitted the slaughter of entire elephant families in some fenced parks, such as Kruger. This was done because of fear the elephants would consume all of the vegetation.
Such animalistic brutality can only be expected of humans. We should be mindful that elephants are endangered as a result of poaching and hunting for their tusks, and thus, have a responsibility to preserve their species.
This is another reminder about the incredible bond we have with nature. They help us as much as we help them. It is our duty to help protect them as best as we can.
Make sure to watch the entire rescue in the video below!
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