Visitors driving across Kenya’s Tsavo East National Park spotted something in the mud, they slowed and saw a tiny trunk moving. It was a baby elephant who was obviously exhausted and in desperate need of help.
Rescuers also noticed tracks in the mud where a mother elephant had obviously tried tirelessly to pull her baby from the mud. It’s believed he could have been struggling there for 12 hours.
“The calf’s mother had clearly tried desperately to save her calf and had nearly given up all hope,” Rob Brandford, executive director of the DSWT in the UK, told The Dodo.
As people surrounded the baby, something surprising happened.
From the herd in the distance, a large elephant separated and came closer. She flailed her trunk and was obviously in distress. She began to mock-charge toward the men who surrounded the baby. This elephant, rescuers realized, was obviously the baby’s mother.
Rescuers were successful, and almost as soon as he could, the little calf rushed to his mother’s side.
As the baby and his mom reunited, they were soon joined by the rest of the herd. So many elephants were spared from grief that day.
“With elephant families being torn apart by poaching, habitat destruction and human-wildlife conflict, keeping herds together is our primary mission,” Brandford said. “Reuniting a calf with his mother is the ultimate happy ending.”
David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust