Death-defying elephant recovers from fourth poaching attempt

[xchrom]

http://grist.org/list/death-defying-elephant-recovers-from-fourth-poaching-attempt/

?w=470&h=264
Rangers help pull Mshale back up after being treated.

Mshale the bull elephant is the biggest badass ever. The roughly 40-year-old African elephant has now survived the fourth attempt on his life by poachers in Kenya’s Tsavo National Park. That’s an impressive feat, considering that almost 1,500 elephants have died there since 2011, and the poachers have gotten increasingly desperate for Mshale’s $16,000 tusks.

Poachers hit Mshale with a poison arrow in November 2012, but fortunately he made his way to a haven for orphaned elephants where a vet with the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust treated him. Recognizing the facility as a source of fresh water, mud baths, and company, Mshale kept coming back to the spot.

Conservation workers kept an eye out for him, too. While on aerial patrol, a pilot from the Trust noticed Mshale limping down below in March 2013, with a gaping wound on his bum. After vets removed two poison arrows, Mshale thanked them with a gaze and headed off, according to the Trust:

He stood gazing at his human helpers for a few minutes and then with a knowing look he limped back off into the bush.

[Judi Lynn]

1. Thank whomever this elephant survived. If only they could be protected.

You wouldn't think it life should be this hard for innocent beings.

Hope there is more goodness in the world than meets the eye.....

[Nihil]

2. Now that is a prayer worth making, just in case ...

> Hope there is more goodness in the world than meets the eye.....