The brave baby elephant saved after it fell into an open drain in Sri Lanka has di.e.d after the vet caring for it went on holiday.
The calf, amazingly filmed as it was pulled from the well, suffered a leg in.ju.ry in the fall and was in critical condition at a transit home when it d.i.ed.
The BBC reports that the veterinarian caring for the baby elephant went on holiday on June 17 and officials did not know how to take care of it as its condition deteriorated.
The baby d.ie.d three days later, although another veterinarian was called.
Footage from the animal’s initial rescue shows a group in Hambantota standing around the drain, trying to figure out what to do after realizing the elephant was trapped.
The baby elephant looked like it was in trouble as it waited to be rescued.
Another elephant – possibly its mother – watched anxiously from afar as a herd of rescuers gathered around.
Then a man began to separate from the paving around the drain to allow the elephant more space to move.
Men tied ropes around the elephant’s legs to help pull it up, and one man grabbed the elephant’s leg as it was pulled up from the drain.
The elephant was examined before being taken to a nearby animal hospital.
In the south of Sri Lanka, Hambantota is an area where hundreds of wild elephants roam free.
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