Thirsty Three-Week-Old Elephant Appears On The Road And Gets Saved By South African Truck Drivers

Mar 24, 2020 by apost team

A group of truck drivers was driving through Botswana in the spring of 2017 when they came upon a baby elephant in need. The drivers gave the thirsty elephant water and even transported her to a nearby elephant sanctuary.

It was a typical day on the job for these South African truck drivers until they stumbled upon a downed bridge, which blocked their path, according to The Dodo. The drivers stopped to assess the situation when a shy baby elephant appeared. Without her mother or fellow elephant pack, she was completely alone and helpless. Fortunately, the drivers noticed that the approximately three-week-old elephant seemed thirsty, so they let the baby animal drink nearly 30 liters from their water bottles, which they recorded on video.

But this heroic band of truck drivers didn’t want to just leave the baby elephant on the side of the road without food, water, and a family, so the drivers decided to go one step further. They loaded the young elephant into their truck, and, in a clear detour from their route, they delivered her to the Elephant Sands sanctuary in Botswana, as The Dodo reports. According to one expert, that was exactly the right thing to do.

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"Baby elephants are notoriously fragile," Paul Oxton, director of Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation, told The Dodo. "Even if she's treated very well and appears to be strong at first, it might still be a long road before it can be claimed that she has fully recovered."

With their help and willingness to put an animal’s life above their job, these truck drivers might have saved this three-week-old animal’s life. Beyond simply being abandoned, elephants, which have seen their numbers dwindle over the years, are also increasingly at risk for ivory poaching and displacement due to habitat loss, according to National Geographic. In fact, in the 15 African countries surveyed in one report, 144,000 elephants have disappeared due to habitat loss and poaching in the past decade. But thanks to the truck drivers’ decision to take the baby elephant to a sanctuary, she should be relatively safe. Oxton also attested to Botswana’s relative success in its animal conservation efforts. 

“In our opinion, Botswana as a whole has one of the most remarkable, ethical and compassionate wildlife conservation strategies in the world," Oxton said in his interview with The Dodo. Oxton added that he trusts that the baby elephant will get “the very best treatment and care possible.”

In an update from The Dodo, the elephant — a baby no more at around three years old — is reportedly doing quite well now after being transferred from Elephant Sands to another sanctuary, Elephants Without Borders — all thanks to a couple of good samaritans.

Chantelle Beyleveld, a friend of the drivers who initially posted the video, wrote in an email to The Dodo that she wanted to “show the people that truckers also have a heart and will go out of their way to help.” 

Would you stop to help an animal on the side of the road? Let us know what you thought about this heroic story, and pass it on to your friends and family.