Elephants are beautiful, compassionate and sensitive creatures, who are a shining example of the phrase, “gentle giant.”
What’s special about these creatures is that they love humans, and many rescued elephants can go on to create special bonds with their carers. We’ve all heard the saying, “an elephant never forgets,” and if you encounter an elephant just once, they’re said to be able to remember you for the rest of their lives!
But despite the fact that these gentle giants would never even harm a fly, some humans still believe that it’s okay to mistreat or kill elephants, often to get hold of their expensive tusks. The ivory trade is illegal in many countries, but poachers sell their goods on the black market for a huge profit, and heart-breakingly, this practice is still very much a current issue.
In this next story, an elephant was tragically shot in the head by poachers, and the bullet was inches away from taking his life. But luckily, he knew who he could trust for help, and went onto make a great recovery.
A video posted onto YouTube by Inside Edition shows the moment that an injured elephant approached doctors and asked for first aid. The poor animal must have been in so much pain that he instantly put all his trust in the doctors, in the hopes that they could make him feel better.
Named Pretty Boy, the poor elephant had been shot in the head by poachers, and he had a deep wound where the bullet had entered his head.
Amazingly, despite having a bullet lodged in his head, the brave elephant was still able to walk up to doctors and show them the problem.
Doctors jumped straight into action to try and save Pretty Boy – but with him being such a large animal, it was going to be difficult work! The first step was to tranquilize him with a small dart, which would make the elephant feel peaceful and relaxed. The doctors could then get to work.
Although it was pretty clear what had happened, the team needed to know whereabouts the bullet had lodged into Pretty Boy’s head, so they carried out a quick x-ray.
They found the deformed bullet in the elephant’s skull instantly, and they realized something amazing. The vets believed that Pretty Boy was hit only a couple of centimeters too high for what’s called a ‘kill shot’ by a hunter. Had the shot been a little lower, he would have been killed instantly.
Whilst he was still tranquilized, the vets performed surgery on the lucky elephant to remove the bullet.
Once they were finished, they waited until Pretty Boy woke up again and watched to make sure he was doing okay after the surgery. But the elephant was still pretty tired, and he had only made it a couple of steps before he fell asleep looking pretty comical with his trunk against a tree.
Pretty Boy probably had a bit of a headache – but thanks to the help from the vets, he was going to make a full recovery! We hope that the poachers leave this beautiful animal alone from now on. Watch the video of how Pretty Boy was treated below.
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