– screenshot, via USA Today,
At a zoo in Guatemala, an elephant intervened to save its fellow enclosure-mate in a startling interspecies display of kindness that delighted zoogoers.
At the Aurora Zoo in Guatemala City, a gazelle fell into the watering hole inside its enclosure and couldn’t climb over the steep rocky edge.
An elephant who shared the enclosure with the gazelle herd noticed what was happening and trundled into action. Using its trunk, the elephant first tried to pull the gazelle up of the water, but its struggles caused the elephant to lose its grip.
Grasping the gazelle’s horns more firmly, it yanked it out of the water at the second time of trying.
“Mira mira,” or “Look look!” cried a spectator who caught the moment on film, and who cheered along with others when the gazelle was back on land.
Incredibly, reports USA Today, this isn’t the first time that an elephant at this very zoo has acted as a lifeguard. In 2022, Trombita, a 61-year-old Asian elephant, also noticed a gazelle stranded in the water. She trumpeted in alarm until a nearby zookeeper came by to see what was the matter.
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Quickly jumping into the enclosure, the zookeeper helped the animal to safety.
While it seems that something needs to be done about the enclosure’s water hole, for the moment at least there’s always a lifeguard—a very, very large lifeguard—on duty.
WATCH the rescue effort below…
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