What This Elephant Pulled out After Digging for 11 Hours Might Shock You

Elephants are some of the most intuitive and intelligent species within the animal kingdom, even though they can sometimes be obtuse. They always wear their hearts on their sleeves, and you can tell when something’s bothering them.

That was the case for one Indian elephant. A large crowd was there to watch this majestic animal dig a hole for 11 hours throughout the night.

The villagers knew this was atypical behavior, and something was very wrong for her to act like this. However, bystanders were shocked once they saw what she was doing! What was it she did?!

Elephant Herd

A herd of 60 or so elephants had been spotted in a dusty region of northern India back in 2015. It’s well-known that there’s a high altitude and long rainy seasons for the landscape. These elephants had been traveling many miles when something very bad happened!

One Weird Elephant

The elephants were actually moving through the Chatra district, which is 100 miles from Ranchi. It’s called the “City of Waterfalls,” and elephants are often seen there. In fact, migrating elephants weren’t new to the villagers, but there was one that caught their eye.

Used to the Traveling Elephant

Elephants are the largest land mammals in the world, with humans as their natural predators. These are gentle creatures unless they’re forced to be mean for protection. Such elephants were accustomed to traveling in this area, but this one elephant was doing something odd!

Mysterious Behavior

This elephant had some erratic and mysterious behavior. In fact, no other elephants could be seen. The villagers surrounded this one in the muddy field while hours passed by. What was she up to? Why did she get separated from her herd? The questions are answered soon enough!

The Question of Being Alone

Elephants live together in large groups, though the males and females are separated. They only interact with the other sex for brief social purposes and mating. Females all live together and raise the children together, so this elephant being alone was quite strange. They soon realized why.

Causing a Stir

The elephant was creating a stir because she was agitated, but no one knew why. The villagers watched this creature, which was separated from the herd, while she pushed that trunk in the dirt. Why did she leave her group, though?!

Look at What the Elephant Does

Elephants don’t abandon each other. If one is injured or old, the entire herd moves slowly. However, this elephant’s herd was nowhere. In fact, the lonely creature was acting very strangely, and the villagers chose to investigate.

Quick to Attack

The villagers were quite curious about what the elephant was doing. However, they feared it might be injured and ready to attack. Though they knew something was out of the ordinary, they were afraid to investigate. Finally, though, one man took a look.

It Snapped

Jitendra Tiwari was tired of waiting and approached this elephant slowly. He got closer and closer and was aware that he had to get the elephant to trust him. Therefore, he balanced on his toes, but that wasn’t enough. The elephant saw him and snapped!

A Very Angry Elephant

According to Jitendra, the elephant had a terrified and angry expression on her face. She began making noises to scare the human away, so that’s what Jitendra did. Then, he went to the other villagers, waving to them so that he could discuss what he saw.

Trying to Dig Something

He realized this elephant was sifting in the dirt. She braced herself and buried her trunk in the ditch with the back legs. Working quickly, she removed much of the mud from the hole. However, Jitendra was confused about why she was doing this.

An 11-hour Dig

The elephant took a couple of steps back and started digging again, but she was clearly exhausted. She kept repeating the process and had dug for 11 hours. In fact, she dug so hard that most of the herd abandoned her. What was happening?!

On a Mission

Elephants spend much of their day looking for water and food. They’re hygienic and prefer to bathe daily. With that, they only sleep four to five hours. However, this poor elephant didn’t do any of the normal things. She was on a mission!

Making a Plan

The elephant refused to stop! Even if she wore herself out, it was a dangerous situation. Jitendra knew they had to figure out how to frighten this elephant so that they could investigate. After half an hour of debate, they knew what must be done and started working.

Dinner Time

They drove in trucks full of food to distract this elephant. The villagers had bananas and other yummy treats. It was clear this elephant hadn’t eaten for a while, so they figured this might get her out of the way. Now, they waited for dinner time!

Hungry or Not Hungry

In one day, adult elephants can eat about 300 pounds of food. Plus, this poor creature hadn’t eaten in a while. Therefore, this elephant could probably only last a few more hours before looking for sustenance. However, she was so adamant about not eating. What was happening?!

It’s Showtime

This elephant was exhausted and about to collapse! However, she quickly got to her feet and noticed the tasty treats around her. She immediately lost interest in everything else and started toward the food trucks. Now, the villagers could investigate!

Inspection Time

Finally, this elephant turned away from her hole and started eating. The villagers could examine it now. However, Jitendra realized that if everyone flocked to the hole at once, she might get startled. Therefore, he and a few others calmly walked over to it.

It Was Her Calf

The villagers knew they must be careful because this elephant could become dangerous. However, they didn’t know what was wrong. As they inched closer, they found out! Her calf was stuck in this muddy ditch!

Making a Situation Worse

This mother elephant ended up making the situation worse with her digging. In fact, she was pushing mud into the hole, which might suffocate the baby! The villagers knew they were almost out of time. Something just had to be done!

Survival Question

These villagers knew the dangers in store for them if they left these animals alone. The baby elephant could starve or suffocate to death. They were incredibly worried, but what could they possibly do with this angry mama elephant?!

Being Extremely Careful

It wasn’t simple because they couldn’t grab the baby’s trunk or legs to pull him out and save him. The mother elephant wasn’t likely to let them near the child. Therefore, the villagers must be cautious and think outside the box!

Caught on Camera

Jitendra Tiwari decided to record the full ordeal. That way, he could easily recount the rescue efforts of his village. First, the villagers drove some banana trucks up to the hole and scared away the baby’s mother.

Removing the Sand

Ultimately, Jitendra said that they used the mom’s feeding time to remove a ton of sand that was near the hole. This was what caused her to find it hard to rescue the baby. However, they didn’t know if it could work.

Return to the Calf

The villagers then chose to move the banana truck from the hole. That way, the mommy elephant could return and get her calf out. Now, she was working on level ground and wasn’t kicking more mud into the hole. At least, that’s what they hoped!

She Saved Her Calf

The mother elephant finally wrapped her trunk around the mud-splattered baby after a struggle of 11 hours. Then, she was able to drag the young calf to safety. Finally, the mother’s and villagers’ efforts had paid off!

The Loving Reunion

This mother elephant was allowed to relax now that her baby was on solid ground again. The two walked away with trunks entwined! That is the same as an elephant kissing someone. Aww!

Back to the Herd

The mom and her calf walked away side by side and were finally ready to rejoin their herd. This ordeal was finally over! Hopefully, they don’t forget the caring villagers that were able to help!

Spotted Something Strange

Whenever there’s trouble on the water, it’s important to have naval officers on the scene. That was the case when some sailors off of Sri Lanka’s coast spotted an odd shape in the water!

Wasn’t Expecting This

In July 2017, a naval vessel from Sri Lanka was performing some practice maneuvers in the ocean. The officers hadn’t realized that the drills they were doing might turn into an emergency in real life. However, that’s exactly what happened!

An Odd Shape

The sailors saw a strange shape beneath the surface as they got farther out into the ocean. Therefore, they veered off their course to see if they could help. Unfortunately, they weren’t aware of what they might soon see!

Something Struggling in the Water

These officers were stunned when they got closer to the object. The strange shape was an elephant! This poor animal had gotten into a situation where he had to swim for his life. They were nine miles out in open sea!

Spring into Action

The crew immediately started planning the best course of action to rescue this stranded elephant. They also notified the Department of Wildlife. Remember, they weren’t animal experts and might need help!

A Tricky Task

With little time to waste, these sailors moved close to the struggling elephant to secure him with some ropes. This was a difficult task. In fact, everyone was worried about upsetting the animal or putting him in more danger.

He Led the Way

Ultimately, one valiant officer took the lead. Putting his life on the line, he dove into the water to tie a rope around this frantic creature. This elephant was in distress. However, he was still capable of hurting the officer.

They Must Be Careful

The officers had to work quickly, but they also had to be very careful. Even though the elephant could breathe, it was thrashing in the water. Plus, the ocean was quite rough. Finally, these officers secured the boat and the creature.

He Got Caught Up

The ship was slowly returning to shallow water and dragging the elephant behind it. However, no one knew how this poor creature ended up at sea and so far out. Some speculated that he might have gotten swept away from a strong current.

Critical Actions

While the officers’ actions were critical for the elephant’s rescue, they couldn’t call this mission a success yet. They must safely hand the animal over to the experts at the Department of Wildlife.

The Department of Wildlife Takes Over

The Department of Wildlife then took over when the rescue portion of the mission had finished. Ultimately, the elephant was guided to the Yan Oya area within Pulmodai. Then, he was handed to the wildlife officials there for the next step.

What Matters Is He’s Safe

It doesn’t matter what caused the elephant to get dragged out to sea. What was more important was that the Department of Wildlife and those naval officers were able to safely return it to his family. They are heroes!