Helping
Tiny got in the watering hole and can’t get out. The bank is just a little too steep and a little too slippery. The elephants try to help by screaming and bellowing, but it doesn’t quite work. One craps copiously in Tiny’s general direction, but that doesn’t do it either. Pulling doesn’t do it…but maybe pushing? Worth a try.
H/t Silentbob
Nothing worse than arseholes shitting on you when you’re in a fix.
They do that when stressed. I once had to go home and shower for that reason. (Home from the elephant barn at the zoo, that is.) Her failure to move upstream for just a second made me laugh.
Trainers at San Diego Wild Animal Park said (years ago) that elephants can’t see behind so backing up is very stressful. The herd was so concerned about their baby, I wonder how can people stand to Kill these creatures?
I wonder where the herd went off to those times?
I read an article that said poaching has meant that younger animals become the herd matriarchs, which has a negative affect on the herd’s survival. I wonder how old the matriarch is? It took a while before they worked out to push the baby out.
I loved the way they all stood around patting each other after the rescue. Clearly de-briefing after the stress.
Aww! Elephants are such empathetic, intelligent creatures. No wonder you love them so much, Ophelia.
That’s easily the most frustrating video I have seen in a long time. If I didn’t know (thanks, Ophelia!) that they figured it out in the end, I might not have managed to watch it all.
This sort of mishap seems rather common among elephants? I’ve seen another clip in which human rescuers had to move in to get a (somewhat larger?) youngster out of a hole. They had to drive the herd off first, then they used a couple of vehicles and some seriously heavy ropes to pull the young one out. And finally they chased it in the same direction as the herd, hoping for the best. And yes, there was a happy reunion at the end.
Elephants will always try to help out other elephants who are in difficulty. They have long memories and when coming across the bones of former herd members, elephants will stop and caress those bones with the tips of their trunks, as though paying homage to their memory. It’s quite touching to watch.
Thanks for sharing the uplifting video, Ophelia. I’m so glad it ended happily.