The baby elephant slipped into the muddy ravine and couldn’t get out. However, the herd soon came to the rescue!
Jolandi explains she had been with her husband on honeymoon in the reserve when the poignant moment had unfolded.
“It was our very first drive in Addo Elephant National Park,” she recalls. “We entered via the Mathyolweni Gate, in the south, and headed straight for the main camp when we came across our first large herd of elephants.”
The elephants, big and small, were all making use of a small pool of muddy water. Jolandi recalls how the bigger elephants had already had their drink, and now the younger ones were having their turn.
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This was when they spotted a baby elephant. The little one was playing among its siblings, trying to get its share of the water.
However, being so tiny, it had to get right to the water’s edge to have any chance of getting a sip. This unfortunately meant that it was standing on the very slippery part of the waterhole.
Baby elephant disappears down slope
In a moment, the unthinkable happened.
“And just like that, in a blink of an eye, the baby elephant fell face first into the muddy water and disappeared!” says Jolandi.
The little elephant was caught in a predicament. However, as Jolandi witnessed, this wasn’t just the baby elephant’s problem. It had become the herd’s problem.
All members of the herd were committed to trying to get the baby out of the slippery mud and back onto solid ground.
She relates how the elephants closest to the water rushed over and stretched their trunks, desperately trying to pull the little one out.
“Nearly all the herd were trying, but the baby was just too small and weak to grab onto any of their outstretched trunks,” she recalls.
Elephants panic but don’t give up
“The panic increased as time ticked by and the baby was just sinking further and further in with every step it took. Covered in mud and exhausted, the baby looked like it was ready to give up!”
However, the whole situation took an about turn when one of the herd members had a brilliant idea. It climbed down the embankment and went into the water with the baby.
“Once the one bigger elephant entered the water, another followed, and the two bigger elephants slowly prodded and guided the now tired baby to a less steep embankment,” says Jolandi. “This made it easier for the baby to walk out of the mud without having to climb the steep embankment.”
As the baby came out of the waterhole, the entire herd showed immense relief. Jolandi says she and her husband were also relieved. “The elephant was now happily reunited with his family and safe from the muddy struggle he was in.”
This memorable sighting was a visual reminder of the special bonds shared between herd members and one which Jolandi and husband never forget. What a special sighting to see at the dawn of their married life together.
