We may never know how long he was lying there, but we do know that help came just in time.
Warning: Graphic images below
An elephant was found in Malawi’s Liwonde National Park completely debilitated by a snare trap digging into the flesh of his foot.
But people were not going to let him die: Rescuers rushed to the scene to help the desperate elephant.
Amanda Harwood/Lilongwe Wildlife Trust
Veterinarian Amanda Salb of Lilongwe Wildlife Trust and Derek Macpherson of Cluny Wildlife Trust teamed up with the Rhino Protection Team and African Parks scouts to tranquilize the suffering animal and remove the gory snare. Then they set to healing the wound it had left.
“The whole procedure went extremely well,” Salb told The Dodo. “Although the wound was really deep, we’re all so pleased that we were able to remove the snare entirely and give him the required treatment.” Key to the success of an operation like this, she added, is the teamwork across organizations in Malawi, “[It] gives us the ability to respond to emergencies like this.”
The elephant will continue to be monitored by African Parks scouts and the Rhino Protection Team, and if he needs any further treatment Salb and her team will be on call.
“It’s always devastating to see the dreadful damage these snares can do to such a big animal,” the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre wrote on its Facebook page. “This poor elephant must have been in a lot of pain.”
But the pain seems to be already melting away. Two days after his rescue, the elephant was spotted at the watering hole with his herd. “[He was] bathing normally and seemed bright,” Salb said.
Hunters set snare traps with aims to kill smaller wild animals than elephants, which can decimate animal populations at an unsustainable rate, according to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT). Just 1,000 of these snares can capture 18,250 animals in a year – even elephants, whose population is already plummeting because of the ivory trade.
