How The Story Begins
Elephants are herd animals, which means that they always move in groups. Their survival depends on protecting each other, unless that compromises the whole group.
If something makes one of the elephants unable to move, the most likely scenario is that they will be left behind, which is what happened to the protagonist of our story.
The Accident
A baby elephant that was barely a year old was walking through a muddy road with his pack when suddenly, he got stuck in mud.
This is very common actually, and many elephants are often found trapped in sinkholes or in mud piles in Africa. No matter how hard he tried, he just could not stand up.
No Use
When the other elephants in the group realized what had happened, they tried really hard to help the little guy.
With their trunks, they tried to push him out of the mud, but no matter how hard they all tried, there was no use. If he wasn't able to get out soon, the group would walk away without him.
The Last Attempt
His mother, of all elephants, was trying very hard to get him out of the mud. But if they spent any more time out there, a predator could come and destroy the whole group.
They knew they had to keep going, so she gave her baby one last push. Unfortunately, it did not work, and the rest of the elephants were already walking away.
Left For Dead
The decision was made and the group left him behind. The poor little elephant was whining, but nobody could hear him. After a few minutes, the herd faded into the horizon and his hope disappeared.
He was preparing himself for nightfall, which was about to come. Then, it would be a matter of hours before a predator would catch him.
Helpful Witnesses
You may be wondering how anybody knows about this, but we've got the answer for you. This story was witnessed by a group of tourists who were on a safari.
They had no idea what to do and they had been advised not to get close to the animals, so all they could do was watch the little baby elephant struggle for his life.
Is All Hope Lost?
It was slowly getting darker, and the baby elephant had no more strength to keep fighting. His hope was probably gone at this point, but he had no idea he had been seen by a group of tourists who would try their best to get him help.
The tourists could only pray that no predator would get to the baby before help got there.
Searching For Help
The tourists alerted their safari guide about the situation and he quickly made a couple of calls. Nobody wanted the baby to be killed or to starve to death, so they had to do something about it. After the call was made, they left on their jeep.
Then, the elephant was left in complete solitude, waiting for his fate. At this point, he wasn't moving anymore.
Could It Be?
An hour later, the elephant was about to fall asleep as he had spent all his energy trying to get out of the mud. Then, he heard rumbling in the distance. He opened his little eyes, but there was nothing to be seen.
What could be making that noise? Was his herd coming back for him, or was it a group of ferocious predators trying to claim him as prey?
Waiting For The End
The elephant's hopes were long gone at this point. As the noises came closer and closer, the baby did not move an inch. He was ready to face whatever was coming for him, and he thought it was probably something bad.
His family wasn't coming back for him, and now he was just food for predators to feast on. But the noises actually didn't come from any predators...
Too Good To Be True
Lights flashed in the elephant's little eyes, and he suddenly saw those who were responsible for the noise: a group of humans. They had come on a jeep, and they all quickly got out of the car and went up to the animal in distress.
Of course, the elephant did not know whether they were good or bad people, so he was absolutely terrified.
Help Is Here
As it turns out, this group of men weren't trying to hurt the poor elephant, they were trying to save him. In the eyes of the terrified creature, however, these people were dangerous. He had no strength to fight anymore, and all he could do is cry.
The men were heartbroken by the elephant's cries, and they tried their best to liberate him from this prison.
It Was Destiny
The men who were trying the best to save the elephant actually worked for an animal sanctuary. If the tourists hadn't been there in the right place at the right time, they wouldn't have spotted the elephant and they wouldn't have alerted the sanctuary.
Maybe it was all a coincidence, or maybe it was destiny, but that didn't matter. Now, it was time to save his life. That was going to be difficult, though.
No Easy Task
Humans have the tools and the brains to handle many problems that animals can't solve, but this one was very tricky. After all, if all the strength of the elephant's family could not get him out of that hole, how could three regular men help him?
They needed to devise a plan to safely and quickly get him out of there and bring him to the sanctuary before dark.
Trial And Error
The men first tried to dig out the mud around him to release the elephant's legs and let him walk out of the hole, but the mud was too thick to do that. Their second plan was to get a rope, tie it around the exposed part of his legs, and just pull.
Even though he was a baby, he was way too heavy for the men to pull him out of there. Believe it or not, a baby elephant weighs an average of 205 pounds!
One Last Try
The men were desperate to free the elephant, but they began to think it was all hopeless. The animal couldn't seem to be able to move, and they were running out of ideas. Therefore, they decided to give the pulling one last try.
They tied the rope around his legs once more and kept pulling and pulling, but it didn't work. They were getting ready to leave the elephant to its luck, when something incredible happened.
A Miracle Happened
It turned out that all the men's efforts hadn't been useless, because they had pulled the elephant enough to free a small part of his legs. To the surprise of the rescuers, the little elephant began struggling, and eventually got up, all by himself.
He freed himself from the mud and made it out alive. Now, it was time to get him to the sanctuary and check if all his vitals were OK.
Finding His Family
The rescuers figured that the best option for the baby would be to find his family and get him back into the real world rather than raise him at the sanctuary.
After all, his family couldn't have gone too far, and maybe if they started early, they could find them and reunite them with the lost baby. In order to do this, however, they had to tie him so that he wouldn't run off on his own.
It's For The Best
The elephant was completely terrified when he was tied up and put in a jeep to be transported. It reminded him of the stress and the trauma of being stuck in the mud, and he quickly began to cry.
This broke the rescuers' hearts, but it was all for the best, even if the baby didn't understand it. They just wanted to find his family fast so that the elephant could be set free once and for all.
Time Is Of The Essence
The elephant was so scared that the rescuers decided to put the search on hold and try to reach out to him. They offered him water and they tried to get close to him so that he wouldn't be so scared anymore.
They couldn't waste any more time, however, because every wasted second meant that the herd was getting farther and farther from them.
Same Heart
While we look and act very differently, elephants and humans actually share many emotions. Elephants are extremely intelligent creatures, and this sometimes is a downside, as we all humans know.
They can suffer from PTSD, which is exactly what the elephant was experiencing. But when he realized that he had no choice but to cooperate, he calmed down, and they were ready to go.
A Strange Sound
They hadn't gotten very far from the sanctuary when they heard some strange noises in the distance. Since they were in the middle of the wilderness, the rescuers thought it could be basically anything: humans or any kind of animal.
But the reaction of the baby elephant to the noise made them stop and listen. The baby was making a strange sound too.
Closer
The elephant was getting more and more excited and tried to free himself from the rope that was keeping him in place. The rescuers realized that he was not scared, but he was trying to tell them something.
Then, they decided the best thing to do was to search for the origin of that sound and trust the baby's instincts. Could it be his family?
Hope Is Not Lost
As the sounds got louder and louder, the rescuers came to a surprising realization: they were driving back to the spot where they had found the baby elephant.
As they were approaching the watering hole where the elephant had been trapped, the sounds became clear: it was a herd of elephants crying for help.
The End
To the surprise of the rescuers, the baby's herd was looking for him where he had gotten stuck! When they approached them, the baby could not contain his joy, and all the elephants were visibly excited.
The rescuers released the baby, who went running back to his mother, and the two shared a beautiful moment. The rescuers went home, knowing the elephant was safe and that they had done the right thing.