A playful young elephant in South Africa’s Kruger National Park recently found itself face-first in a mud pit during a tricky river crossing.
In footage captured at the park, the calf can be seen navigating its way through murky water on Saturday.
But as it reaches the final step out of the river, the young elephant slips, tumbling onto its left side, now covered in mud from its eye down to its legs.
With its vision partially obscured by mud, the calf struggles to regain balance. Another much larger elephant approaches, seemingly offering a few nudges to help the calf find its footing before casually moving along.
Determined, the calf pushes itself up using its front legs and makes another attempt. With two more gentle nudges from the adult behind it, the young elephant finally manages to scramble up the riverbank, its playful spirit undeterred.
Wildlife enthusiast Edrich, who witnessed the moment, shared, “The young elephant didn’t get far before it tripped and fell face-first into the mud. While we felt a bit sorry for it, the whole scene was quite entertaining.”
He added, “Thanks to some encouragement from an adult female, the young elephant seemed to regain confidence and successfully finished the challenging crossing.”
Covering an impressive 7,500 square miles, Kruger National Park is one of Africa’s largest wildlife reserves, spanning nearly the same area as Israel and slightly smaller than Belgium.
