Young elephant stuck in the mud for four days killed after humans risked their lives to save him

zainab quadri

September 9, 2015 12:32 PM

Pictures have emerged of some extraordinary humans risking their own lives in a desperate battle to save a young elephant who was stuck up to his neck in mud for up to four days.

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But after finally dragging him to dry land, days under the fierce African sun without water or food proved too much and the elephant had to be killed.

Len Taylor, a guide at Gache Gache Lodge only a few minutes from where the elephant was stranded, climbed into the mud with the elephant and spent six hours battling to free him.

He told MailOnline: ‘Even though he was quite young, he was certainly big enough to kill us. He was extremely distressed and fearful, he was making a lot of noise and was smacking his trunk about - I got hit a few times.

'I did manage to avoid the tusks, because if you get hit by one of those it would break your leg easily.'

Len, 40, and the rest of the rescue team did their best to get the elephant on to his belly once he was out of the mud - giving him the best chance of getting up on his feet to eat and drink.

Ray Townsend, who works at the lodge, said: ‘Even though he was eventually pulled out, he could not stand, could not get up by himself.'

'Time is as always crucial in these matters and he was stuck in the mud longer than we thought – three to four days with dehydration, no water, in the hot sun and slowly exhausting himself from trying to get out,' he added. 'In the end, putting him down was the kindest thing we could have done for him.

'Watching an animal die of thirst in the bush is not something we wanted to witness, or put him through. It was a sad situation, but we are glad that we made the effort we did.’

Mr Townsend explained that the decision to put the exhausted animal down came after it became clear he wouldn’t be able to stand up or survive his ordeal.

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