Villagers in the Kaeng Hang Maeo district of Chanthaburi Province in Thailand woke up to the horrific cries of a mother elephant back in February of 2018.
The drama began after a large herd of about 40 elephants wandered onto a rubber plantation and a baby elephant got stuck in a muddy well roughly 9 feet deep.
Motherly instincts
The mother elephant refused to leave her baby. But she also got into some trouble herself when she fell into a nearby electric fence and got a shock that sent her crashing to the ground.
Her wails are nearly unbearable to listen to as she fears for both her life and that of her youngster.
It all happened at around 2 am and those who were awaked by the noise were shocked to come out with their flashlights to see the drama (not to mention the dozens of elephants wandering in confusion near the scene.
“The family of more than 40 were crying and jittering around,” officials with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife said.
The electric shock appears to have only temporarily stunned mom, and when villagers tried to rescue the baby struggling in the narrow, muddy pit, she couldn’t bring herself to run to safety.
Luckily, the rescuers’ first instinct was to cut the power to the fence so that she was no longer in physical pain. Only then could then tend to her emotional pain by saving her baby.
A dramatic rescue
As witnesses stood by in horror and concern, someone fetched a backhoe to try and dig a bigger space for the juvenile to maneuver.
It took nearly three hours since the machine operator had to be extra careful not to harm the 1-year-old elephant stuck in the well as it dug around him.
Despite putting up the electric fences specifically to keep wandering elephants from damaging their crops – something fairly common in the region – the people of the village had no desire to see the animals hurt.
Eventually, the backhoe created a slope long enough for the little elephant to climb its way out of (since there’s really no way to use your hands to pull something that large out of a hole). Of course, after hours of struggling, the little guy was pretty exhausted and disoriented.
The videos
There are two videos of the dramatic incident, one distributed on Thai news sources and the other edited for The Dodo.
The Dodo’s video shows the mother elephant’s struggle and the baby’s rescue and then shows him trotting back to his mother in the end after standing around for a bit to get his bearings.
But the full video that pans back to reveal the onlookers shows one scared and angry little elephant who charges the bystanders as they cheer his rescue.
He’s confused and angry and covered in mud – and once he chases everyone back a bit, he turns tail and heads towards the woods where mom is waiting.
Both videos are emotional to watch and had commenters in tears and on the edge of their seats as the backhoe did its work. it was also disturbing to see the struggling mother get an electric shock.
One commenter summed it up perfectly:
“What impressed me was how committed the workers were to find a solution to one very difficult situation. The final solution was genius and the backhoe operator was so incredibly careful but effective. A scary but wonderful story to watch unfold … that little elephant was one tough character. Cheers to everyone involved!!”
Be sure to scroll down below to see both videos of the rescue. (But we’ll warn you that the audio is pretty traumatic.)
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