Believe it or not, but elephants are a highly intelligent species. They consistently prove just how intelligent and intuitive they are when faced with problems out in the wild. Recently, villagers in a town in India noticed that one elephant was digging a hole for hours. At first, they couldn’t understand why she was doing this. Then, when they finally saw why she was digging they were heartbroken.
20. Elephant Herd
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Back in 2015, villagers near a northeastern India village spotted a large herd of elephants passing through. The herd had around 60 elephants and they were all traveling for miles on end.
19. Common Occurrence
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The villagers in the Chatra district, about 100 miles from the Jharkhand state capital of Ranchi, were used to seeing elephants passing through. In fact, it was a pretty common occurrence for the elephants to make their way through the area on their migrations.
18. One Elephant
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However, the villagers quickly took notice of one elephant in particular. This elephant was behaving quite oddly and none of the villagers could understand why. Soon, she was completely separated from the rest of her herd.
17. Into The Dirt
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As the villagers observed the elephant more, they noticed that the elephant was behaving quite frantically. They watched as the elephant began to stick her trunk into the dirt and begin to dig and dig. Why was she doing this?!
16. Digging
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No one could understand why she was digging, but it was obvious that she was doing just that. She continued to dig and dig and dig with all of her might. It was obvious that she was trying to reach something!
15. 11 Hours
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The elephant was relentless in her digging process and continued to do so for the next 11 hours. From sunrise until sunset, the elephant continued to dig but she didn’t seem to be making any progress. Eventually, she stopped for a bit to take a break as she was utterly exhausted.
14. Confused
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The villagers were only getting more and more confused. They simply couldn’t understand why this elephant continued to dig despite her herd having already left. Eventually, the villagers curiosity got the best of them…
13. Walking Over
So the villagers decided to walk over and see what could be inside of the dirt where the elephant was digging. However, they proceeded with caution because they weren’t sure if the elephant was dangerous. Then, they finally saw what all of the commotion was about and it was shocking!
12. Muddy Ditch
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As the villagers walked over, they finally figured out what the problem was and they couldn’t believe their eyes. Inside of the muddy ditch was the mother elephant’s calf. The calf was stuck inside and buried by dirt and mud.
11. Stuck
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The poor baby elephant was completely stuck inside of the muddy hole. However, even though the mother elephant was trying to free her baby, she actually made the situation worse. She ended up throwing more dirt inside of the hole and covering her baby up more.
10. What To Do?
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The villagers understood that if they left the elephant to her own devices that the calf would probably not make it. The calf would either suffocate or starve to death. But, what could they do to help out? Well, they came up with an idea…
9. Not Easy
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Everyone understood that the task at hand would not be easy. After all, pulling out a baby elephant out of a ditch is hard work. Not only that, but the mother elephant seemed to be extremely protective of her baby. So the villagers decided to get creative with their rescue plan.
8. Banana Truck
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The first thing the villagers did was drive up a few banana trucks up to the scene. They did this in order to scare the mother elephant away in order to clear the area. Once the mother elephant had stepped away, they were then able to intervene.
7. Filming It
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One of the villagers, Jitendra Tiwari, pulled out his camera and began to film the rescue as it happened. It was obvious that this was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everyone involved. Now, the men moved closer to the baby elephant and began to help move it out.
6. Rescue Mission
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Now that the mother was safely away, Jitendra described what the men did next. “We used [that] time to remove the heap of sand deposited near the well that was making it difficult for her to rescue the baby.” Jitendra wrote.
5. No More Mud
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Finally the baby elephant was free from all of the mud that was holding it down. The mother elephant then began to walk toward the hole as the men moved back. So would she be able to lift the baby out now?!
4. Lifting Out
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After 11 hours of digging frantically, the mother elephant was finally able to pull her baby out. She placed her trunk into the hole and wrapped it around the baby. Then she pulled the young calf out and onto the ground she was standing on.
3. Solid Ground
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The mother and her calf were finally reunited and they were both so happy. The two of them then decided to make their way back over to the rest of their herd. However, as they were walking away, the villagers noticed the elephants embracing in the sweetest way.
2. Loving Embrace
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As the mother and calf walked away from the villagers, they saw the two of them embrace in a heartwarming way. The mother and calf intertwined their trunks together and walked away holding each other. It was a beautiful sight!
1. Happy To Help
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All of the villagers were so happy that they were able to help save the baby elephant’s life. Without the help of the village there’s no telling what could have happened to the poor elephant. Now the mother and calf are reunited and so happy.