What an Elephant Pulls Out After 11 Hours of Digging Will Shock You

Elephants are a very intelligent species and are highly intuitive, making them high up within the animal kingdom. Though they can be obtuse at times, they’re very majestic. They tend to have their hearts out there in the open, so you know if something is upsetting to them.

That was the case for one Indian elephant. The large crowd watched this beautiful animal dig in a hole for 11 straight hours through the night. Overall, the villagers knew that this was strange behavior, and something had to be wrong for her to act like that. Bystanders were quite shocked when they saw what she was doing and why!

Elephant Herd

In 2015, a herd of roughly 60 elephants was spotted in a dusty region of North India. It’s known that there are long rainy seasons and a high altitude in the landscape. These elephants were traveling and had been for a while when something bad happened!

The Weird Elephant

These elephants were moving through the Chatra district, and it’s about 100 miles from Ranchi. This place is called the City of Waterfalls, and elephants were known to travel there. Migrating elephants weren’t actually new to these villagers, but one caught their eye.

Used to Traveling Elephants

Elephants are the biggest land mammals in the world, and humans are a natural predator. They are gentle creatures unless they must be mean for protection. Though elephants were used to traveling in the area, one elephant started doing something strange.

Mysterious Behavior

One elephant had some mysterious and erratic behavior. No other elephants were around. Therefore, the villages surrounded the one in the muddy field. What had she been up to all that time? Why was she separated from the herd? They got their answers soon enough!

Why Alone

Elephants tend to live in large groups, with the females and males separated. They can only interact for mating and brief social purposes. Females live and raise their children together, so the single elephant was strange. The villagers soon learned why.

Causing a Stir

This elephant was agitated and caused a stir, but no one knew the reason. Overall, the villagers just watched the creature while she pushed her trunk into the dirt. Why was she separated from the group?

What the Elephant Does

It’s rare for elephants to abandon each other. If one is old or injured, the whole herd moves more slowly to accommodate. However, the herd for this elephant was nowhere to be found. In fact, this poor creature was acting strangely, making the villagers want to investigate.

Quick to Attack

Though the villagers were very curious about the elephant’s behavior, they knew that it could be injured and might attack. They knew something was going on and were initially afraid to investigate. Finally, one man decided to take a peek.

It Snapped

Jitendra Tiwari couldn’t wait anymore and slowly approached the elephant. As he got closer, he was aware that the elephant must trust him first. He balanced on his toes to try to get a peek, but the elephant saw him and immediately snapped.

The Very Angry Elephant

According to Tiwari, this elephant had an angry and terrified expression on her face. She started to make noises to scare him away, so he left. Then, he waved over the other villagers to tell them what he had seen.

Digging Something

He realized that this elephant was digging in the dirt. She buried her trunk in the sand while bracing herself with her back legs. She worked fast to remove as much mud as she could. However, Jitendra didn’t know why she did it.

The 11-hour Dig

This elephant took a few steps back and started again, but she was exhausted. She kept repeating this process and had been digging for 11 hours and didn’t realize that her herd abandoned her. What was going on?!

On a Mission

Elephants have to spend most of their days looking for food and water. They like to bathe daily and sleep about four to five hours. However, this creature didn’t do those normal things because she was on a serious mission.

The Plan

This elephant couldn’t stop. It was a dangerous situation, even if she got worn out. Jitendra realized that they must figure out how to frighten the beast to investigate. After an hour of debating, they got to work.

Dinner Time

They drove some trucks full of food into the space to distract the elephant. The villagers gathered tons of yummy treats because they knew the elephant hadn’t eaten all day. Overall, they figured they could get her out of the way and see what she was doing.

Hungry or Not

An adult elephant eats about 300 pounds of food each day. This creature hadn’t eaten for a long time and needed sustenance before she could continue working. However, she was adamant and did not eat. What happened next?

Showtime

This elephant was about to collapse from fatigue. However, she stood up once more and saw the treats around her. Immediately, she lost interest in her hole and moved toward the food trucks. That meant the villagers could take a look.

Time to Inspect

Finally, this elephant left the hole and began eating. The villagers wanted to examine it, but Jitendra knew that if they all gathered at once, she could become startled. Therefore, he took a few people to walk over to it.

Her Calf

The villagers had to be careful because the elephant might become dangerous. However, they had to know what was wrong here. As they got closer, they realized that her calf was stuck in the mud!

Situation Made Worse

Overall, the mother elephant made the situation worse by digging. She was pushing more mud into the hole, which could suffocate her baby. The villagers realized there wasn’t much time, and they had to do something!

Survival Issue

The villagers knew that if they left the animals alone, the baby might suffocate or starve to death. They were very worried, but they had to think of something to do with the angry mother first.

Extremely Careful

It wasn’t a simple thing because they couldn’t just grab the legs or trunk of the baby to save him. This mother might not let them near the child. Therefore, they had to think of something else.

Caught on Camera

Jitendra recorded the entire ordeal so that he could recount his rescue efforts with the village. First, the villagers chose to drive banana trucks to the hole to get rid of the mom.

Remove the Sand

Then, Jitendra and the villagers removed the sand near the hole while the mother elephant was eating. That was the reason she couldn’t save her baby. Still, they weren’t sure if it might work.

Return for Her Calf

After the mother elephant ate, the villagers moved the truck so that she could go back to the hole. She was working on more level ground and didn’t kick more mud into it. That’s what they hoped for!

Saving the Calf

The momma elephant finally got her trunk around the baby after an 11-hour struggle. She dragged her calf to safety and gazed adoringly at her mud-splattered child. Finally, the efforts of everyone paid off!

A Loving Reunion

The momma elephant could relax now because her baby was out of the hole. They walked away, and their trunks were entwined. This is how elephants kiss each other and was a beautiful sight to see.

Back to Their Herd

The mom and calf walked away and could finally rejoin the herd again. This ordeal was over now. Hopefully, they never forget about the caring villagers who helped them!

Spotting Something Strange

Whenever trouble comes on the water, naval officers must be on the scene. That’s what happened when Sri Lanka sailors were on the coast and found something oddly shaped in the water.

Not Expecting This

In July 2017, a Sri Lanka naval vessel was performing practice maneuvers in the ocean. However, the people on board never realized that their drills might turn into a real-life emergency, but that’s what happened!

The Odd Shape

The sailors noticed a strange shape under the surface when they got farther out into the ocean. They veered off course to see if there was something they could do to help. However, they didn’t know what they might see!

Something Struggling

The officers were initially stunned when they got close to the object. This strange shape was actually an elephant! Overall, the poor animal got into a situation where it had to swim for its life. However, they were nine miles out from the shore!

Springing into Action

The crew started to plan out how they might rescue the stranded elephant. They notified the Department of Wildlife, as well. Though they were trained to handle various situations, they weren’t animal experts.

The Tricky Task

With no time to waste, the sailors moved closer to the elephant to secure ropes around him. This was a challenge, and everyone worried about putting the animal in more danger or upsetting him.

He Leads the Way

On valiant officer chose to take the lead. He dove right into the water to tie ropes around the frantic creature and risked his own life to do it. This poor elephant was in severe distress and could hurt the officer unintentionally.

Must Be Careful

The officers knew they had to work fast and be careful, too. While the elephant could still breathe, it was thrashing around in the water. With that, the ocean was rough, but the officers finally secured the creature to the boat.

Getting Caught Up

The ship slowly returned to shallow water and was dragging the helpless elephant with it. However, no one could explain how the creature was so far out at sea. Some believed that he got swept away from a very strong current.

Critical Action

The officers’ actions were crucial to the elephant’s rescue, but they weren’t out of the water yet. This mission wasn’t successful until they handed the animal to the Department of Wildlife experts.

Department of Wildlife

The Department of Wildlife took over when the boat got back to shore. Then, the elephant was moved to the Yan Oya area. From there, the wildlife officials took the next step for his safety.

His Safety

It really didn’t matter why the elephant got dragged out to sea. The only thing the naval officers and Department of Wildlife cared about was getting it safely back to its family. They’re true heroes!