A 40-year-old elephant had gotten himself sᴛᴜᴄᴋ in the mud in Kiboko, Kenya, and was unable to ꜰʀᴇᴇ himself. Wɪʟᴅʟɪꜰᴇ ᴄᴏɴsᴇʀᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ group, Big Life Foundation, spotted the elephant near their monitoring outpost and suspected he had been trying to take a mud bath.
The team at Big Life Foundation realized that they couldn’t help the elephant on their own, so they partnered with the Kenya Wɪʟᴅʟɪꜰᴇ Service (KWS) and the David Sheldrick Wɪʟᴅʟɪꜰᴇ Trust (DSWT), as well as the local community to help the elephant.
Over the course of three days, the team tried multiple methods to ꜰʀᴇᴇ the elephant from the mud.
However, the mud was like glue and kept him sᴛᴜᴄᴋ in place. The elephant was at ʀɪsᴋ of ᴅᴇʜʏᴅʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ and sᴛᴀʀᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, as he was unable to eat or drink while he was sᴛᴜᴄᴋ in the mud.
The team even pulled him out with two large trucks at one point, but the elephant somehow managed to slip back into the mud and get sᴛᴜᴄᴋ again overnight.
The team refused to give up on the elephant, and on the third day, they managed to pull him out with the help of three Land Cruisers and heavy straps.
The elephant was ᴇxʜᴀᴜsᴛᴇᴅ from the ᴏʀᴅᴇᴀʟ, and it took a while for him to regain his strength. The team provided him with intravenous fluids, and he was able to rise to his feet.
The elephant was a bull and did not belong to a family or herd. However, the rangers at Big Life Foundation have since spotted him several miles from the ʀᴇsᴄᴜᴇ site and report that he’s doing really well.
The team was delighted to see the elephant on his feet after three days, and they were proud that their hard work and long days had paid off for this beautiful bull.
