by This is the incredible moment an elephant trumpeted in ᴅɪsᴛʀᴇss after an antelope fell into a pool in its enclosure. An elephant and its caretaker have become the hero of an antelope that fell into a lake at La Aurora Zoo for saving its life.
According to a video shared by zoo visitor Maria Diaz, the Asian elephant sounded the alarm with a bellowing trumpet as soon as she spotted the antelope in ᴛʀᴏᴜʙʟᴇ at La Aurora Zoo in Guatemala City. The agitated elephant can be seen calling out and swinging her trunk in the direction of the sᴛʀᴜɢɢʟɪɴɢ antelope. The elephant’s response was to start making barytars, the name given to the traditional sound they make with their trunks.
In the clip, one can see the antelope’s horns at the top of the pool, as it struggles to stay afloat. The elephant, on the other hand, appears to point its trunk towards the animal and then turns back to the zookeeper. While the elephant continues to look around for help, the antelope begins to splash more ꜰʀᴀɴᴛɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ in the water.
The Trompita’s noises caught the attention of the zookeeper. The images show the moment when the caretaker, already wary of the elephant, began looking for solutions to save the antelope from almost certain ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ; However, he must act cautiously because he does not know how the elephant will react.
Seconds later, the man decided to stand on the opposite side of the pool to jump into the water and prevent the animal from ᴅʀᴏᴡɴɪɴɢ. In the end, the zookeeper lifts the antelope high enough that it bounds up over the ledge of the pool. After several attempts to bring it to the surface, the caretaker managed to save the antelope. Finally, the elephant seems to calm down as the deer runs off to rejoin its herd and onlookers let out a massive cheer.
Zoo vet Alejandro Striedinger said Trompita appeared to show affinity toward the antelope as she shares her enclosure with the species. But Striedinger added the antelope was never in any real ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀ as the pool has islands and shallow parts so the animals can always get out by themselves. He said the incredible scene was ‘very beautiful’. Trompita is 60 years old and has been at the Guatemalan zoo for 14 years. She was ʀᴇsᴄᴜᴇᴅ from a local circus where she was raised and forced to perform routines.
Photographer Pathum Bandara said he was amazed by the sight. Mr Bandara, 34, gushed: “Baby elephants are very playful, and whilst I was observing a heard of over 200 elephants I spotted these two messing around. The little elephant looked like he was trying to steal a free ride as he rested on another! He looks so mischievous as he looked in my direction.”
Following the incident, the zoo gave a reward to the elephant and the worker that jumped in after the antelope. The tusker, who is called “Trompita”, was given watermelon, carrots and peanuts. The zoo worker, on the other hand, was given a certificate. Elephants are highly empathetic animals, capable of complex emotions. A study also found that Asian elephants in particular have shown empathy to other ᴅɪsᴛʀᴇssᴇᴅ and have also been known to alert humans to situations before.
