Villagers rescue 11 elephants in Cambodia

Farmers in Cambodia found 11 Asian elephants trapped in a mud hole — an old bomb crater from the Vietnam War that the farmers had enlarged to store water.

The 10-foot walls in the hole in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary were too high for the elephants to scale and, as the mud dried, it became increasingly more difficult for the herd to escape.

The farmers contacted the Department of the Environment, and employees there reached out to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment (ELIE) for help.

Villagers worked with the team to help bring food and water to the elephants while a ramp was built and lowered into the hole.

"This involved a massive effort of digging a ramp and escape channel, loading in branches and logs and roughage and cooling them down with a big hose and to also loosen the mud around them, before they finally moved toward the exit," Jemma Bullock of ELIE wrote on Facebook.

"Finally ... one after the other they stormed out of there. However more drama struck when one little baby was left behind. So the rescue mission launched back into action. As a huge storm rolled in, we attempted to rope the baby ele to safety. After many attempts and some heart stopping moments, the little gal finally made it out and ran off to the safety of the forest and the herd!"

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