1 month ago
Yahoo News UK
Rumble
The video shows the daring attempt of an elephant herd rescuing their baby elephant that fell behind during a deep and dangerous river crossing. It was during a recent trip to the Kruger National Park that I managed to film this dramatic moment. After our self-drive morning safari, we decided to stop for breakfast at one of the main rest camps. It was busy on the day with a lot of people at the specific rest camp. While sitting in the restaurant overlooking a huge river in the front of the camp, I noticed a herd of elephants in the distance that was getting into the river. At first, I thought the elephants were there for a swim but soon realised that the whole herd formed a single file and was busy crossing the deep and dangerous river. All large water bodies in this part of the world are crocodile and hippo infested. The river was so deep that the elephants disappeared under the water while bouncing back up the whole time as they make their way forward while crossing the river. It was a stunning sight right from my breakfast table on the deck overlooking the river. The elephant herd slowly crossed the deep river to the other side. Suddenly I saw two adult elephants hastily making a u turn and started swimming back. I was a little confused by this but quickly realised what was going on. I saw right in the middle of the deep river a tiny grey spot, which accidently got left behind during the daring crossing. Amazingly in such a big herd, the elephants quickly realised one was missing. The baby elephant was disappearing under the water before coming up for air again the whole time, trying to swim back to opposite side the herd went. A struggling baby elephant alone like that can easily become the target of a big crocodile lurking in the depths of the river. It was incredible to watch how the adult elephants motored their way towards the baby elephant. Finally, the elephants made it to the struggling baby elephant, and it was a mad scramble for the adults. I could see the way baby elephants do cross such big river was to somehow stand or hold onto the backs of an adult. The one adult elephant managed to get the struggling baby elephant onto its back and started to make its way to the rest of the herd. On several occasions the baby elephant would fall of the back of the elephant along the way, and they would turn around and try again. During the last bit of the crossing, it seemed the baby elephant couldn’t stay on the back of the adult elephant, and they pushed it forward under the water right towards the shallows. The elephants stopped in the shallow water, looking around as if they again can’t find the baby elephant. I thought that was it, that last stretch under the water was just too much for the poor little elephant. To the great relief of everyone in the restaurant that eventually gathered to watch the whole drama, the baby elephant popped out and showed its head and trunk before it got moved out to the river bank by the adult elephants. Incredible how the baby elephant survived the whole ordeal by not drowning or getting eaten by one of the many crocodiles in the river. Incredible wildlife moment indeed.
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