Incredible moment a pair of frantic adult elephants work together to save a calf from drowning after it slips into pool at zoo enclosure
A pair of frantic adult elephants saved a drowning calf in an incredible display of teamwork by the gentle giants.
The youngster had been standing at the side of a large pool in its enclosure in Grand Park Zoo in Seoul, South Korea, with one of the adult elephants when it slipped and fell into the water.
The stunned adult panicked as it watched the infant struggle to keep its mouth and trunk above the surface.
But help arrived when a second adult, who had heard the commotion, came rushing to the side of the pool.
The pair of adults seemed to communicate silently and decided they would only be able to reach the youngster if they entered the water from the shallow end of the pool.
They hurtled round to the other side of the water and crashed their way across to the baby.
A third adult elephant in the background of the shot was separated from the enclosure by a fence – and was clearly distressed at not being able to provide a helping trunk.
It paced up and down with increasing desperation as it watched the baby elephant flailing around in the pool.
The baby elephant is taking a drink when it slips and falls into the water
The two adult elephants immediately spring into action to save the baby
But the two adults managed to get the situation under control in a display of teamwork rarely caught on camera in the animal kingdom.
They stood either side of each other in the water and lifted the baby up so that its head was above the surface, before guiding the dazed infant towards the shallower end of the pool.
They lift the baby’s head up so it can breath before directing it towards the shallows
The baby kept a wide berth of the pool for the rest of the clip – and you can understand why
The bedraggled baby was soon back on terra firma – and kept a wide berth from the edge of the pool until the clip came to an end.
The amazing footage has had more than 459,000 views since it was posted online on Friday – with many commentators expressing the impressive way the adults coped with the crisis.
One said: ‘Wow, fast response’. Another added: ‘Better than people.’