“This [was] a great example of everyone working together.” – WCS director Ross Sinclair.
PHOTO: Rickmann-UK.com
It was a warm last few days in March when a family of elephants in Cambodia’s Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary decided they fancied a dip in a mudhole that began as a bomb crater leftover from the Vietnam War. They were having a grand time until a problem arose: they were stuck in the water.
Luckily for the trapped elephants, local farmers used the mudhole as water storage. When they came to pick some up, they easily spotted the elephants’ plight and called the Department of Environment. The Department of Environment called the Wildlife Conservation Society, and almost immediately a rescue was on its way.
Farmers, conservationists, and local government employees rallied to help get the family of elephants out. Some fed and watered the elephants and tried to calm them down while others built an escape ramp.
After a few hours of work, an escape route had been made. The elephants used the ramp to wade out of the sticky mud one by one. The ones still stuck in the hole helped push the others to safety, and then escaped themselves.
One of the elephants, a baby, was too small to get free of the mud all by himself. That’s when the humans came to the rescue again. They managed to haul him out of the mud with some ropes so he could go right back to his mother and run safely home. Not a single elephant drowned that day.
Watch the video below to see the incredible teamwork. It’s a reminder that we all live on this earth, and we all need to work together sometimes to get along. These humans did, and it’s beautiful. Way to go, guys.
