Trapped for 12 Hours in the Mud, an Exhausted Elephant Finds Hope and Freedom Thanks to a Daring Rescue Team

The five-year-old was stuck for 12½ hours before being seen by tourists who raised the alarm

The five-year-old was stuck for 12½ hours before being seen by tourists who raised the alarm.

Local lodge boss Bradley White, who organised the rescue near Zimbabwe’s Zambezi River, said: “He’d soon have died or been eaten alive by vultures.”

Stuck: Rescuer battles to free Dumb

Ear we go: Muddled mammal dragged to safety

Trunk funk: He’s back up and looking perky