Villagers from Cambodia did a great job by saving 11 wild elephants including a baby from the mud-filled bomb crater in the eastern province of Mondulkiri, Cambodia. Those elephants were trapped for four days without food and finally rescued on Saturday.
According to, Khmer Times, the crater was about three meters deep, created by the bombing dropped by the US during the Vietnam war. It took five hours to execute the elephant rescue operation With the joint effort of provincial environmental office and local villagers.
Director of the rescue team Mr. Keo Sopheak said in the report,“All of the elephants could have died from a lack of food and water if they weren’t rescued in time. Local people who collect tree products in the forest found them and immediately informed us”. The team made an escape route by digging the sides of the pit down.
Rescuers took special care for the baby elephant because he was not mature enough to climb out on its own. Sopheak and his team tied the baby with a rope to pull him out of the mud. The Phom Penh Post reported that villagers served the elephants waters and tree leaves to quench their four days thirst and hunger.
Sopheak explained that there was a canal within the 100 meters radius of the pit, so the elephants did not come to the pit in search of water. He is assuming that the baby may have accidentally fallen in and the other member of his team became stuck while attempting to rescue the baby.
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) extended their helping hand by providing ropes, digging tools and other important equipment to make the operation successful. WCS also considered this Asian elephant species as endangered species as there are approximately 250 elephants left in this area.
