Last week, the 49-year-old wild elephant, who’s famous for his huge 100-pound tusks, moseyed onto a farm in Kimana, Kenya, to snack on some crops. But when Tim tried to move to another farm, he slipped into a furrow in a swampy part of the land.
The huge elephant struggled to get out, but that only made things worse, digging himself deeper and deeper into the mud.
Not only was Tim a massive elephant, but he’d done a spectacular job lodging himself into the swampy ground.
“He would have been stressed at being stuck and desperate to free himself, but in addition to this, he found himself surrounded by people,” Rob Brandford, executive director of DSWT, told The Dodo.
“Once this was complete, Angela arranged for a plane, chartered by DSWT, to fly the straps to the scene,” Brandford added. “This was all done in a matter of hours, as we knew time was short for Tim.”
In the end, it all worked out. The rescuers looped the long straps around Tim’s body and used a tractor and a couple Land Cruisers to haul him out to safety.
“The following day … he was found to be browsing, as if nothing had happened,” Brandford said. “Big Life Rangers who patrol the area where Tim is currently have checked in on him daily since he was rescued, and he is showing no ill signs from the incident and is feeding well.”
Everyone is also pleased to have saved a “big tusker” like Tim, who’s well-loved by tourists and locals in the area.
Big tuskers play a key role in the elephant community, passing down strong genes and knowledge to future generations. But sadly, these animals are becoming increasingly rare, mainly due to poachers who want their ivory. It’s believed there are only about 25 big tuskers left in the whole of Africa.
But poaching isn’t the only threat to these elephants. Last year, authorities shot a big tusker known as “Little Male” after he supposedly killed a farmer during a human-wildlife conflict. And while hunting is illegal in Kenya, big tuskers are targeted in other countries — in fact, this past March, a trophy hunter paid a large sum of money to kill a big tusker in Zimbabwe.