A Baby Elephant Cries For Help After Being Abandoned By Its Herd, Then Was Rescued In The Most Unexpected Way
For a baby elephant, their herd is their family. If one falls behind, they all wait to ensure the safety of the individual and the pack. Sadly, sometimes a desperate situation happens that forces the herd to take action just to survive.
This helpless baby elephant was abandoned by his herd one afternoon. Luckily, an unexpected savior came in to help and get him safely back to his herd. Find out who—or what—came to save this baby elephant.
A Sad Accident Caused The Baby Elephant To Be Abandoned
For this baby elephant, his day had started just like any other. He lived with his family on the Addo Wildlife Sanctuary in Africa. The herd had stopped at a natural pool to bathe and drink water. It was a perfect day.
The baby elephant began to play when suddenly everything went wrong. Usually, getting a little muddy pond is a good way to cool down in the African heat. But today, he started to sink into the slippery banks of the pool, and when he tried to get out, he became stuck.
One Big Push
No matter how much this baby elephant struggled, he couldn't free himself of the mud's grasp. As the herd prepared to keep moving, they realized there was a problem. As we've said, herds stick together, and this one was no different.
The adult elephants attempted to push the young one free, but no matter how hard they tried, nothing helped. The baby elephant wasn't sinking any deeper, but he wasn't gaining any ground either.
Every Elephant As One
So far, only a few adult elephants had tried to free the baby. With no progress made, they started calling out to the rest of the herd. Now, with all their power combined, surely they could save their young.
Sadly, the baby remained stuck. He was in serious trouble and hope was starting to fade. It didn't help that in the distance something else heard the elephant's desperate cries. It was moving fast towards the herd, but what exactly was it?
Defensive Positions
On the horizon, a Jeep appeared. It sped toward the scene, but was it full of friends or enemies? The herd didn't have time to figure it out, and surrounded the baby to protect it.
The men drove the Jeep around the elephants, trying to break up the herd and figure out what was happening, but the animals refused to move. They were ready to do anything to protect one of their most precious members.
An Audience Appears
As the war of attrition between the elephants and the men in the Jeep continued, a group of tourists began watching. They had seen the elephants earlier, and decided to keep their distance to be safe.
Now they were witnessing an incredible story with an unpredictable ending. They knew it would be too dangerous to intervene, but couldn't turn their eyes away from the harrowing scene. Little did they know they would play a vital role later in our story.
It's Now Or Never
What seemed like hours passed while the people in the Jeep and the elephants faced off. Exhausted, the younger members of the herd began to flee, choosing their own safety over the baby's. This forced the mature elephants to make a difficult decision.
Would they abandon the baby elephant and join the fleeing members of the herd? The baby was still hopelessly trapped and running out of energy. The Jeep wasn't running out of gas, though, and whoever was driving was determined to break up the herd to see what they were hiding.
Abandoned By The Herd
Forced to make a decision, the older elephants chose to abandon the baby and keep the majority of the herd together. The men in the Jeep had won, but what were their intentions?
In the eyes of the poor baby elephant, their intentions didn't matter. He was left alone to fend for himself. He became frantic and desperately tried to free himself. The Jeep moved closer. A confrontation was looming, and soon enough the truth about who these men were would be revealed.
A Helping Hand
The good news was the men in the Jeep weren't there to harm the baby elephant. They were actually rangers at the sanctuary who had heard the animal's cries for help. Unfortunately, the only way they could assistance was to get the herd to abandon their baby.
Now that it was their rescue mission, the rangers needed a plan. If the strength of an entire herd of elephants wasn't enough to free the baby, what could they possibly do to help?
Several Plans Failed
The rangers tried the simplest rescue plan first. One of them got into the water and tried to dig out the mud around the baby elephant's legs. As thick as the mud was, however, this proved impossible.
Next, they tied a rope to the elephant's legs and tried to pull him out. While this could have worked, the young animal was still too heavy to be moved. Then, on the verge of giving up, the baby elephant miraculously began to free itself.
Finding The Herd
The baby elephant, after hours of struggling, was finally able to free itself. Everyone was ecstatic. The rescue mission was a success. Then it dawned on everyone: there was still one problem. Where did the herd go?
The rangers knew they couldn't leave the baby alone while they searched for the herd. Their best option was to tie the elephant up, essentially trapping it for a second time, while they went off to find its family.
The Most Humane Thing To Do
It might sound cruel that the rangers chose to tie the baby elephant up, but it was actually the safest and most humane action to take. They needed to find the herd, and couldn't take the chance the baby would run off on its own or attack one of them.
Remember, while these elephants were safe in the Addo Wildlife Sanctuary, they were still wild animals. And this elephant in-particularly had just been through a traumatic experience. It wasn't an easy decision for the rangers to make, but they knew it was the right one.
An Unhappy Baby
As you could probably guess, the baby elephant was very happy with being tied up moments after being freed. He lashed out and used all his remaining strength to try and break his bonds.
If he was older and bigger, he probably would have been strong enough. Today, however, size mattered. Try as he might, he wasn't going anywhere. His fate was now in the hands of the rangers, even though he didn't trust them yet.
Time Was Running Out For A Reunion
This was easily the worst day this baby elephant had ever experienced. And if the rangers didn't reunite him with is herd soon, it would only get worse. Elephants, like humans, can suffer from PTSD, and this poor animal was a prime candidate.
According to trans-species psychologist Gay Bradshaw, "You have sustained psychological trauma, (but without) any of the traditional healing structures of the elephant family and culture." All this baby had was the rangers who had saved him. Realizing there was nothing he could do, he finally calmed down.
Humans And Elephants Share The Same Emotions
Part of the reason elephants can be affected so profoundly by trauma is because they experience emotions similarly to humans. As Bradshaw puts it, "elephants and humans really share the same processes that govern emotion, cognition, and consciousness."
We don't know if the rangers were aware of this, but that didn't change the urgency of the situation. Night was coming, and the last thing they could handle would be watching over the baby all night. Of course, they would if it was necessary.
Gaining Trust
The next big step for the rangers in their reunion mission was to gain the baby elephant's trust. After so much time struggling in the African heat, they realized the baby was probably dehydrated.
One of the rangers grabbed a mini pool and filled it with water. When it was close enough to the elephant, he reacted instantly. Without hesitation, the baby elephant's trunk was in the water and he was drinking with glee. For the moment, a truce had been reached between the rangers and the animal.
Back To Basics
With water at his disposal, the baby elephant was finally able to take care of himself. Not only did he drink until he was no longer thirsty, he also sprayed himself cool and clean.
The cold water on his back was the perfect way to fend off the heat of the sun. Now that his mood was better, one of the rangers was even able to get a closer look at him. It was vital to make sure this elephant was healthy after the stress-filled day.
Happiness Is Fleeting
For the moment, everything seemed calm. The baby elephant was drinking, splashing, and bathing himself. The rangers were overwhelmed with relief, even if the job wasn't done. As the day continued to pass, they noticed that anytime the baby elephant heard a noise, he looked around.
The baby elephant might have been healthy, but it became clear he wasn't happy. He missed his family. Every noise could be them calling out for him. It's possible that even though the rangers ran them off that they were still looking for him.
The Right Sound
Amazingly, the next sound the baby elephant heard was the one he'd been waiting for all day. His herd was calling for him. He once again tried to break free of the ropes that kept him trapped.
The herd was close, but it still would have been too dangerous or the rangers to let the baby loose to find them himself. Soon the baby elephant would be reunited with his family, leaving our story with the happiest ending. First, though, they still needed to find where the herd call was coming from.
An Inside Tip
Remember how we told you there were tourists watching everything happen? They knew where the baby elephants herd was, and tipped the rangers off to their location. It turns out, they were back near the watering hole right where the hole misadventure began.
With a location in mind, it was now up to the rangers to lead the baby back to its herd. Again, they wanted to keep it safe, and going along this journey with it was the only way to ensure that.
A Family Reunion
With the baby elephant in tow, rangers led him to the location the tourists had hinted at. As soon as the youngster was close enough to see his herd he called out them and ran toward them.
The herd reacted with the same excitement! For everyone involved, what had started as a disaster turned into a harrowing rescue mission and heartwarming reunion. For the rangers, it was just another day on the job. For the elephants, it was life-altering and unexpected kindness at its finest.
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