11 endangered wild elephants rescued from mud hole (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)

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Indian Express

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Eleven endangered wild elephants in Cambodia were rescued Saturday, four days after getting stuck in mud, officials said. The elephants were rescued in northeastern Mondulkiri province, home to about 250 wild elephants, said Wildlife Alliance official Bothmroath Lebun.

The chief of Mondulkiri’s environment department, Keo Sopheak, who headed the rescue team, said the elephants were sent back to the jungle where they normally live. He said the animals apparently got stuck in the mud when they went to drink water at a 3-meter-deep hole that was left over from US bombing during the Vietnam War.

He said if local villagers had not reported the incident, the elephants would have died from thirst and starvation.

http://indianexpress.com/article/world/cambodia-11-endangered-wild-elephants-rescued-from-mud-hole-4585342/