Limping in agony with a festering wound, the mother elephant cried silently—until rescuers freed her from the poacher’s brutal snare.

A quick-thinking wildlife rescue team have saved an elephant’s life after it was spotted with a hunter’s snare attached to its leg.

The elephant, known as Martha, was seen with the looped piece of wire tightly cutting into her leg as she wandered the plains of Zimbabwe with her calf.

Catherine Norton (centre) was part of quick-acting wildlife team that helped to save the life of an elephant after it was spotted with a hunter’s snare attached to its leg

The elephant, known as Martha, was seen with the looped piece of wire tightly cutting into her leg as she wandered the plains of Zimbabwe with her calf

Norton, 58, a conservationist living in Zimbabwe, was called to the Musango Island Safari Camp after the owner spotted Martha struggling to walk. She said without the intervention of her team the elephant would have died

‘There was a wire snare digging deep into her left front leg, crippling her and causing severe pain,’ Norton said.

Norton holds the wire loop snare removed from Martha the elephant’s leg , which had become badly infected by the trap

The rescue team observes the immobilised elephant as it recovers from having the painful snare removed from its leg

Wire snares like the one found around Martha’s leg are usually set to catch smaller animals around the neck, however large animals like elephants and rhinos can sometimes step into them.

In 2017, a lion in Zimbabwe was killed after being caught in a snare that reportedly cut into the animal’s stomach and tore open it’s neck.

Large animals such as elephants and rhinos are vulnerable to snares even if the trap is intended to catch a smaller creature. Pictured: Martha with her calf after being rescued

While elephants and other large animals are likely to be able to break the snare free from the tree or branch it was hung from, in the process they will pull the wire tighter around their leg causing painful constriction and infection. Pictured: Martha and her calf after the rescue

If Martha’s snare was not removed, she would likely have died from the infection or have stopped eating and died. Her young calf – completely dependent on its mother – would also have likely perished. Pictured: Martha and her calf