This is an incredible video of a wild baby elephant trying to take her first steps right after being born! I’m amazed at how gentle and encouraging the elephant herd is towards the calf.
By surrounding her, the elephants are protecting her as well as helping her get up onto her feet! Some lucky travelers caught this on film at Chobi National Park in Botswana.
Imagine being blindfolded and forcibly made to cross a busy street at gun point! This is what the female elephant Lakhi has been subjected to all her life. Beaten and chained all her life, she was on the verge of collapse when the court intervened and granted her freedom.
In one of the most horrific cruelty cases witnessed in elephant abuse, Lakhi the elephant was blinded by her cruel owners & handlers and then forced to beg at various temples and small towns to earn money for her owners.
Lakhi had been exploited as a ‘begging & performing elephant’, a condition likely caused by constant abuse by her handlers. Her blindness put her at serious and continuous risk of road accidents if not guided properly. Mishandled, beaten and whipped all her life, she has several injuries and wounds on her chest, forehead, ears and back. A painful swelling on the left temporal region, which is clearly visible, speaks of the torture she has undergone.
After enduring decades of abuse and neglect, the 60 year old Lakhi has been finally rescued. On 26th February, 2015, elephant was gently encouraged to walk into a special ten wheel truck that was hired for this very purpose and start her final journey to her new home.
The Wildlife SOS team will be bringing ophthalmology experts from the UK to explore the possibility of restoring vision in at least one of her eyes. This will improve her welfare considerably.
It is doubtful that she has ever even tasted food appropriate for an elephant.
Lakhi has chronic, painful injuries that have never received proper medical treatment. Adding to her pain and discomfort were the spiked chains kept consistently around her feet, which led to puncture and abrasion injuries.
Earlier this week, a Russian icebreaker conducted a dramatic rescue miles away in the Artic. The crew from the Alexander Sannikov icebreaker saved the life of a missing dog, they found on an iceberg!
The 1-year-old Samoyed dog named Aika went missing from more than a week ago and since then he wondered through the icy fields of the Arctic. When the sailor spotted him, the white fluffy dog was stranded on sea ice, yet he was in a very good condition. Soon as the ship approached him, the dog started to wag his tail. According to the icebreaker captain, Aika got on board on by himself.
“We put out the ladder, by which the dog climbed aboard on its own,” captain Yegor Agapov told Russia 1. “Then we established contact with the local population, found the owner of the dog.”
It turned out the dog was from Mys Kamenny, a small village in northern Russia. Naturarrly his owner was more than happy to find her dog was found alive after some many days in those tough conditions. The owner, named Svetlana, said Aika got lost after a walk nearby the village, but she still has no idea how that happened. She’s grateful to the kind sailor that rescued her pup as she says her dog would have not survive any longer if the crew wouldn’t find him.
You can watch the moment Aika has been found, here:
The Samoyed is dog breed native to Siberia. Their coat is perfectly designed to keep them warm in these areas where the temperatures are extremely low. They’re also famous for their special abilities to live in these extreme conditions.