Veterinarians and zoo staff in Thailand took part in a dramatic rescue of a female elephant and her baby using a crane, a bulldozer and three person resuscitations for the unconscious mother.
The rescue operation took place under heavy rain in the central province of Nakhon Nayok on Wednesday, following the one-year-old baby elephant fell into a roadside drainage hole.
Rescuers use a crane to pull the elephant out of the hole
Rescuers use a crane to pull the elephant out of the hole
Rescuers use a crane to pull the elephant out of the hole
The female elephant Hira stood on the hole watching her baby. National park staff said they had to sedate her to avoid her attacking them and to save the baby, but she also fell into the same hole shortly following she was sedated.
Rescuers used a truck-mounted crane to pull the mother out of the pit and then climbed over her to give her heart a resuscitation as the excavator shoveled the ground so the anxious little baby might climb up the muddy slope.
After he was rescued, the infant rushed to his mother, who immediately awoke and returned together to the wilderness.
Baby elephant peeking out of the hole
Using a bulldozer to save the baby elephant
trying to revive the mother
