Here’s your feel good video for the day, a combination of a baby elephant and a rescue team enough to tug on those heart strings.

This poor little thing was originally called Bela, although after that rescue you see above the young chap was renamed Amanzi (Zulu for ‘water’).

The video was uploaded to the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre’s (HESC) YouTube account with this description from a witness:

“A couple of people from Electrical Services at Phalaborwa Copper, Limpopo had reported the stranded calf to the Wildlife Supervisor, Johann McDonald. Inspection of the dam revealed numerous scuff marks from elephants trying to bend down to rescue the calf were still visible. Johann thought that the elephants left the area around 5h00-6h00 when human activity around the mine usually begins to increase.

Elephants form such strong family and maternal bonds that one can only imagine how distressed the baby, its mother and the herd must have been. Johann and his team got the baby out of the water and loaded him onto the back of a pick-up truck to try and reintroduce him to the breeding herds which were still in the vicinity.

Twice they tried reintroducing him with the first herd’s matriarch pushing him off his feet. It was now around midday and the little calf began looking weak and in need of rehydration. In quick response to the emergency call, the Elephants Alive team met Johann and the calf at the gate of Phalaborwa Copper.”

Luckily the folks at HESC are looking after young Amanzi, with hopes of eventually reintroducing back into the wild when he is old enough to fend for himself.

Told you it was one of those warm the cockles kind of stories.

[source:youtube]