This footage shows the incredible moment an elephant was saved from poachers by heroic vets in Kenya.
Rob Brandford, director of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, confirmed that the animal would have died if it wasn’t for the amazing efforts of the emergency team.
He said: ‘In this case the tusker has a clearly visible wound on his back leg and the vets needed to ensure they acted quickly before the poison spread.
‘For other elephants however that aren’t treated in time, death by poisoned arrow can be horrendous and extremely painful – it can take hours, weeks or even months for the elephant to die depending on the freshness of the poison, the location of the arrow and how deeply it penetrated.’
But while this elephant survived the horrific attack, Brandford admits that poaching remains a huge issue in Africa with poachers using a variety of methods to slaughter one of the planet’s most iconic beasts.
He said: ‘Across Africa, poaching is an extremely worrying problem that is threatening wild populations, and killing one elephant every 15 minutes for its tusks.
‘Sadly the use of poisoned arrows is just one cruel means of death favoured by poachers – snares, automatic weapons and spears are also used. Demand from Far Eastern countries, including China, is driving this slaughter which could see Africa’s elephants wiped out within our lifetime.’
However, he says that TheDavid Sheldrick Wildlife Trustis making a significant difference in the fight against the illegal ivory trade.
He said: ‘To date, the DSWT/KWS Anti-Poaching Teams have made over 2,000 arrests and recovered over 130,000 snares, and are aided in the air by our Aerial Surveillance.
‘Together with our Mobile Vet Teams (in partnership with Kenya Wildlife Service), it means we can act quickly to any illegal activity and come to the aid of targeted elephants.’
