Rescuing A Baby Elephant And Its Mother, Kapani Lagoon, Zambia

It was the dramatic moment that an elephant and its baby were rescued after they got stuck in a mud lagoon. Conservation workers normally have a policy of leaving nature to fend for itself as much as possible, unless the problem was created by humans. On this occasion, however, they could not sit by and let the mother and calf die in such a horrible way.
Before the rescue by workers from Kapani Lodge, Norman Carr Safaris and the South Luangwa Conservation Society on the flats of the Kapani Lagoon, Zambia, the mother and calf's herd tries to rescue the pair. When they are unable to do anything, the team - along with members of the Zambian Wildlife Authority - moves in while the herd waits on the other side of some trees. With mud in the lagoon drying quickly, the rescue becomes a race against time. Eventually a rope is slipped under the calf's trunk before the pulling can begin. A couple of attempts are made to release the youngster but it wants to stay with its mother and goes back, getting stuck once again. At one point, the calf appears to be calling for help while his mother appears resigned to her fate before the rescue gets under way.