WATCH: Elephant calf reunited with mother after almost drowning in Kruger Park

Determined Kruger National Park (KNP) rangers and staff ended the year on a high after saving an elephant calf from certain death.

The calf got stuck in a natural rock pool in the Letaba area of the park on Wednesday and was unable to save itself, Lowvelder reports.

Rescue mission

KNP communciations manager Isaac Phaahla told Caxton Local Media a section ranger alerted veterinary and wildlife services to the calf’s predicatment.

“The calf got stuck in a pool and this obviously caused distress for the herd. There was a lot of tension and the team had to chase away the herd so that they could mobilise the calf to work with the team,” Phaahla said.

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He said the calf had to be tranquilised for the rescue mission to commence, which took about three hours.

Ranger Karien Loubser said on the SANParks Kruger National Park Facebook group the calf’s mother managed to lower the water level, but that a leopard lurking dangeroulsy close by posed a risk to her baby.

A helicopter arrived to assist in darting the mother, but she ran away as the helicopter arrived, allowing rescuers to complete their mission.

“This just shows that our team never sleeps on the job and is always ready to assist. No animal is less important than another,” Phaahla said.

ALSO READ: Field ranger injured by elephant

Watch the rescue mission unfold below:

Edited by Nica Richards.

This article first appeared on Caxton publication Lowvelder’s website. Read the original article here.