Dollface ALERT!! - Two grown elephants saved a baby elephant from drowning this week.

Beautiful and heartwarming.

Elephants are incredibly smart and they also honor their dead.

What did they do, form a kind of wall and push the baby out from the deep end?

I love the way the one who was furthest away rushed over. Didn't skip a beat.

R4, I agree, that to me was the most amazing part of the video. I've seen rescue things like this before with elephants, but they always move really really slow. I've never seen one rush over like that.

The one furthest away, after rushing over and assessing the situation, gave the other one a noodge from behind to get mobilized. Loving this.

There's a third one behind the fence frantically running back and forth.

Yeah, I wonder if the third one is a boy. The males are separated after they reach puberty, but they still have elephant ESP.

Fun fact: Elephants can easily be trained to stomp human beings to death, pull peoples limbs off with their trunks, and torture people to death for days by kicking them around like a soccer ball.

Video of the subsequent gang rape of that baby elephant has conveniently disappeared.

Elephants are beautiful, emotional, intelligent creatures.

[quote]Elephants are incredibly smart and they also honor their dead.

Honor their dead? They acknowledge the death of other elephants, yes. But honor?

I was watching a documentary about wild foxes in London. One night they shot this dog fox's girlfriend. They showed him frantically searching for her and when he found her dead, the yelps he gave out were heartbreaking.

I very much suggest that all of you read Marc Bekoff's The Emotional Lives of Animals.

thank you, gurl.

Fun Fact: r9 ain't.

What's up with that Mary elephant just running back and forth in the background when the baby falls in?

R12, elephants are well documented of visting and clearly mourning the remains of a dead fellow elephants years after the death, it's hard to fathom, but they could be somehow memorializing the dead in these events.

Did you ever see the documentary, Echo of the Elephants? It used to be shown on PBS a lot. A baby elephant born but not able to stand for some reason. The herd has to move on, the mother stays behind, both now unprotected. Guaranteed tear jerker.

[quote][R12], elephants are well documented of visting and clearly mourning the remains of a dead fellow elephants years after the death, it's hard to fathom, but they could be somehow memorializing the dead in these events.

Too sad to even think about.

Elephant instinctively rushes to save a man.

R16, I don't think that elephant was able to get out and help but it was stressing out because it could see what was happening and couldn't help.

this is all over the mainstream news this evening.

(NBC, anyway).

"The 'MARY' elephant" @ R16! LOL !!

Donald Jr and Eric Trump kill animals like these.

[quote]Not a new story but worth watching again and again! So amazingly touching - the story of Shirley and Jenny, two crippled elephants reunited at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee after a 22-year separation. The bonding was immediate, intense and unforgettable between the two former circus elephants.

Elephants are AMAZING animals. My favorite wild animal. They visit the bones of their deceased family members, and fondle the bones. They communicate with subsonic (too low to be heard by humans) sound waves over many miles. They're actually very strong swimmers and, at the end of the last Ice Age, had colonized many of the Mediterranean islands, as well as California's Channel Islands, where they became dwarfed through the process of insular dwarfism (the rule that large animals tend to evolve into smaller animals when isolated on islands). Yeah, they're wonderful, and this video is one more to add to the proof that intelligence and love aren't unique to our species (and often, other species demonstrate more).

what a film, R25!

[quote]She don't have to wear her chain anymore.

[quote]When I saw this place, I told her, they're be no more chain. She's free now. And I just thought about, I don't know who's the first to put a chain on her, but I'm glad to know, that I was the last to take it off. She free at last.

R26, Thanks. Mr Solomon already broke my heart, even before the elephant reunion. I can only watch these kinds of videos every so often, or I get too weepy to function. Mr Solomon (Shirley's former keeper), is handsome, but a wonderful, poetic guy who obviously loved his elephant charge.

But r17 - Where ARE those remains? Where does an elephant go-oh-oh-oh? Tell me.

Thank you R9, for that ray of sunshine!

[quote]The one furthest away, after rushing over and assessing the situation, gave the other one a noodge from behind to get mobilized. Loving this.

& made the quick decision to get in via the shallow end - "THIS way, gurl!"

Apparently they're Momma & Papa of this baby.

Precious (not so )little citizens!

We hope they receive lots of good care, good food, and love

I once saw a film about an elephant who was finally released from a lifetime of cruelty and evil living quarters.

They showed her for the first time exploring her new home. Rolling around. Her joy was overwhelming to watch.

It's a good thing elephants don't have iPhones. Or the other one would have just stood there making a video.

LOL, R33.

I wonder if the baby will ever go in the water again.

I know my dog when he was a puppy fell into our pool and also the stream - and never went near the water again as long as he lived.

Lovely video thanks OP.

And lovely video about Shirley and Jenny R25 - thanks for posting.

[quote]It's a good thing elephants don't have iPhones. Or the other one would have just stood there making a video.

The one in the background was pretending to be concerned but really he was posting to 'Live Video' on Facebook.

Apparently even the Roman crowds at gladiator fights loved elephants and hated to see them die... they were just about the only creature whose death consistently brought boos rather than cheers.

So funny to see that the elephant closest to the baby is more stupid and panics. The other elephant rushes over and knows exactly what to do.

So like people. Only smaller.

[quote]The other elephant rushes over and knows exactly what to do.

Probably not the first time he's had to pull her out of some situation.

I wish a herd of elephants stomped to death the two fucking Trump sons when they went on that big game hunt in Africa a few years back.

I wish R42 the best of luck, but I will not be working with him.

Babar and Celeste to the rescue!

Wouldn't that have been cool, R42?

But not until they had been read to filth by Tarzan before he summoned the elephants.

Yes, honor R12. When they come across a dead elephant they will all caress the body with their trunks almost like a sign of respect.

We treat them so horribly. I want to die. I fucking hate this world.

Then please leave it, R46.

Let us know if we can help in any way.

The adult ones were trying to eat it

[quote]Let us know if we can help in any way.

Why do 'we' trolls always use 'we' to be nasty?

They always have to call in the collective to express their nastiness.

I believe they employ the "royal we" so as to be especially haughty and dismissive.

I love elephants! Here's another video you'll enjoy, baby elephant chasing birds. Watch how mom runs to protect him when he trips. So sweet!

The worried elephant behind the fence is the gay uncle.

Well, he was referred to upthread as the Mary! elephant...

For all of you elephant lovers, you should check out the Elephant Nature Park online. It's near Chang Mai in Thailand. They rescue abused elephants and give them a wonderful life. You can even go there and volunteer. My niece is going there for two weeks to help out this summer. I would like to do it someday. I follow them on Facebook, the stories of the elephants are so heartwarming.

They probably just did that for the publicity. Some people will use animals that way

This one left his iphone at home, he had to paint the near drowning to get likes on Facebook.

[quote]Why do 'we' trolls always use 'we' to be nasty?

[quote]They always have to call in the collective to express their nastiness.

Republicans.

LOL R51. That baby got dizzy and fell down.

[quote]They always have to call in the collective to express their nastiness.

So ironic that in a thread about elephants teaming together as a "collective" to save a younger elephant from drowning, we have humans using the "collective" to be nasty to their fellow men. Which one is the superior species?

R59, humans can also use the collective for good, to be fair. Since most species are nasty in order to survive, we must turn to see which species do good for the collective in a wide array of ways, i.e., charities, education systems and protection of societies. I think humans mean well, but when everyone has their own opinion on how things should be, then the red tape in this bureaucracy is blood.

I didn't see the baby get out of the pool.

R19: You wanna talk sad? The original [italic]Babar[/italic] book had him ascend to the throne because the old king died from eating poisonous mushrooms. The cartoons kind of skirt over that aspect of the books.

[quote]My niece is going there for two weeks to help out this summer.

Oh please, "help"? She wants to go there to feed and pet them, I doubt she'd going there to shovel their shit.

she's*

Hate the robot voices, but love the story.

Amazing elephants swimming in the ocean.

Watch this little boy having a tantrum!

How can they tell the elephant was having a tantrum? To me, it appeared as if he had an itch and rolled on the ground to scratch it.

Elephant babies are as cute as puppies and kittens (to me, at least).

The queen in the background was looking for a grease fire to push the other 3 into.

Don't watch if you can't handle some tears.

[quote]Elephant babies are as cute as puppies and kittens (to me, at least).

so are baby bears

bless the beasts animals are better than people

An elephant saves a buffalo

we honor their hearts and minds

Don't watch if you're feeling emotional. On the other hand, watch if you want a good cry to cleanse your soul.

The little boy elephant at r67 grew up to be a bossy bottom.

look at this to get over the above.......

"i'm not laughing...,.you're laughing..."

they trust

he/she let her use his/her foot as a pillow.

what a beautiful relationship.

Datalounge has officially become the new iVillage.

Goddammit, R16 made me laugh so fucking hard.

Elephants are incredibly maternal, comparable to humans in the way and the length of time they care for their offspring. They are also a matriarchal society and females help one another with their calves. And as was pointed out a few times, they grieve in ways that are comparable to humans also.

I love the way calves grab their mother's tail like a child holding mommy's hand.

Sweet! (And I again salute the OP).

check this link for more great videos and pics!

They never forget

No lifeguard! We're suing!

More elephants coming to the rescue for their own.

[quote]Sweet! (And I again salute the OP).

You're already saluted me?

I salute you back, gurl.

sorry ** you've**

Love this thread. A musical interlude by the soulful goddess herself.

ah, karen......one note out of her mouth and you know who it is.

she was incredible.

too bad she did not know this.

Let's keep this about elephants.

Thanks.

R91 the goddess is singing about our elephant friends.

Bless the beasts.

The goddess? LOL.

when does ANY thread strictly keep to the subject really??

PFFT

I think the elephant in the background is suffering from stress from being trapped in the enclosure. I don't think it has to do with the events happening in the pond, I think he/she is having psychological issues from being in a zoo. My niece is a zoo behaviorist, her job is to try to help the stressed animals get more comfortable since they're basically prisoners.

[quote]when does ANY thread strictly keep to the subject really??

when there's someone around to make sure it stays on track. Someone who CARES!

OP is like a mama elephant protecting her thread baby.

Yes.

LOL.

Another dollface. I love elephants.

Lookit at this little one!

Crying as I type

Lovely. The elephants (African) are instinctively flapping their ears and swinging their trunks to demonstrate protective boundaries for their young. To think these emotionally superior, magnificent animals will vanish within the next 20 years is devastating.

That's heaven, R99. HEAVEN.

I'm in tears.

weeping hysterically, in fact.

So are you saying that the elephants have stated their boundaries R102?

Two besties:

Baby needed a boost:

The babies are SO adorable.

This poor baby girl is missing half her trunk & tail......

"baby elephants suck on their trunks just like human babies suck on their thumbs"

Elephant herd reunion! They sound so happy :)

They have the cutest babies. This one is named Nandi.

I bet they haven’t forgotten about this!

I LOVE Dollface Alerts!

Clearly they were not Indian elephants.

How can we save the elephants?

For those wanting to learn more about saving elephants and other African wildlife:

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (Saving both elephants and rhinos)

Save the Elephants (Iain Douglas-Hamilton)

Also:

Elephants Without Borders

Thanks, OP. Really great moment.

Thanks OP. DL still surprises.

What a wonderful thread to start off Friday.

"Elephants Run To Greeting A New Rescued Baby Elephant"

A grumpy little African Elephant is stating his boundaries!

Elephant trophies are now legal.

Awwwwwww

I love these beautiful, intelligent creatures. Could watch them for hours.

This baby elephant fell into a ditch, and it too a huge effort to save him/her.

Baby elephant love.

[quote]This baby elephant fell into a ditch, and it too a huge effort to save him/her.

That's not true - they saved it!

I watched it with trepidation.

and the one @R127 is very nice too.

At R126, those Indian men seem to have mastered an American cheer. I've watched lots of other videos with Indian men and women interacting with nature, and this was new to me. I'm just grateful that that poor dear elephant at R126 seems to have a permanent (decent) home.

Baby elephant sliding down a mountain:

Don't forget that the Jimmy John's founder is another one who shoots elephants. No more Jimmy John's for me.

[quote]Baby elephant sliding down a mountain:

A doll!

[quote]How can we save the elephants?

The Born Free Foundation

I'm haunted by the video @ R126 - with the elephant saluting the folks for saving her baby.

I saw this and thought of the "Dollface Alert!" thread. Made me teary.

oops, let me try that again.....

Baby elephants don't learn how to drink with their trunks until they are 9 mos old. Until then, they do this:

R137, Very beautiful!

I'm normally sceptical of assigning human motives to animals, but I really do think the elephant in R126's is signalling acknowledgement of the rescuers. She turns around to face them three times and raises her trunk. It looks like a deliberate gesture.

We need more "Dollface ALERTS" on DL

Here's a baby elephant enjoying its trunk to soothe your weary soul on this dumpster fire of a news day:

The boy drowning harshed my high.

Baby elephant full of love!

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Don't you just love elephants? I apologize for the closeness of another beautiful elephant thread. But I love the Dollface poster, and this whole beautiful thread.

Gurl, you're a dollface yourself and a fellow animal lover.

I've a new dollface thread on the backburner - so look out for it and grab your hanky, it's a tearjerker.

I've posted it. Hope you love it as much as I did.