Elephants are a great treasure of Sri Lanka. They are a symbol of this teardrop-shaped island. But, for the past few decades, they have been hunted, poached, and killed for several reasons. Even when not killed by humans directly, they have been dying accidentally or due to a lack of food and habitat.
This giant elephant was hit by a vehicle and lay down in water due to intense pain and suffering. As the wildlife team arrived, the elephant was groaning due to pain. The first step of rescue was to get the elephant out of the water. Although the wildlife team had been trying to lift it out, the elephant could not stand.
There might be possible fractures in the bones of the animal due to which it could not stand. The team members began by pushing the elephant to stand up, but when it did not work, they tried tying its limbs with a rope, pulling, and pushing at the same time so that it could get up. This too did not work.
After several trials, the wildlife team tied the elephant and changed its direction to easily pull it out of the water. Any medications could not be applied to the animal unless it gets out of the water. Therefore, it was necessary to bring it to dry land to assess its body for any external or internal wounds. The medications and treatments could be applied accordingly.
After suffering for several hours, while the elephant was in the agony of death, the wildlife team tried its best to save the gentle giant. The most difficult was to make it keep breathing and to make its heart keep beating, but all in vain. The elephant could not withstand the injuries and died.
Since the humans could not lift the elephant, the wildlife team used a crane to get the dead body out of the water. They tied it with a rope attached to a crane and lifted it out. No doubt, this was a great loss to Sri Lanka whose wildlife department has been striving to save every individual elephant since the species had been endangered.
