They shower love and have been helping mankind in every possible way since time immemorial. Yes, we are talking about animals because the incident which is going to be talked about took place in a zoo in Prague concerning a baby elephant. The whole episode was filled with a variety of emotions and some controversy to spice it up resulting in it being one of the most debated topics across the whole world. Surely, after reading this soul-striking tale of an extremely protected animal species, you’ll be left with a lot to ponder about and tempted to change the perception towards a lot of things that exist around you.

Will He Get Up?

006-sprawled-babyThe image of a baby elephant you see above was taken at a zoo in Prague. I know on seeing this picture the obvious question that would have been lingering on your mind would be, “Is the elephant sleeping or something terrible has happened to him?” The mother of this baby elephant named Max and the zookeepers were also shrouded in similar thoughts swinging between doubts and worries when they first saw this sight. It all started when Max, a healthy and active baby elephant was playing around with his mother in the zoo on a bright sunny day. For the zookeepers present around it was a routine sight to see the mother-son duo in such joyous mood. But, things took a dark turn when the baby elephant suddenly laid on the floor breaking out from his routine of running all over the park. The question is, “What had happened?”

His Body Was Twitching

007-twitching-babyThe situation was getting worse with each passing second. Janita was distraught and horrified to witness the sight of her baby son who on top of showing no signs of activity started to twitch and move erratically. It was a sight that Janita had not envisioned even in her wildest dreams, her worries grew manifold when nobody from the zoo staff responded to her distressed calls. With no fruitful course of action in front of her, Janita resorted to walking around the whole area making, even more, louder calls to the zookeepers and frequently trying to wake her baby by pushing and moving his body using her trunk. Sadly, it seemed that even the Almighty was not on Janita’s side as her attempts of both calling the zookeepers and trying to wake his son up using her trunk ended up in vain.

His Mother Was Panicked

008-trunk-pokingThe tension and panic were soaring high in the park which beheld the contrasting sights of Max laying static on the ground whereas his mother running frantically to all the corners of the park looking for help. The loud cries made by Janita were gradually turning into sobs of despair, she was getting exasperated with the inability of the zookeepers to listen to her calls. It was evident that Max was in need of immediate medical attention and his condition was deteriorating rapidly in the absence of the former. Fortunately, the air of stress and dejection got cleared a bit when the zookeepers ran towards the spot where the baby was lying, they immediately realized that the situation was critical and consequently, plunged into action to help Max and his worried mother Janita. The time had come to find out what actually happened with Max.

An Endangered Species

004-elephant-herdThe Prague Zoo located in Prague, the Czech Republic got established in the year 1931 with a goal to “advance the study of zoology, protect wildlife, and educate the public.” The workers of the facility which housed the endangered Indian elephants named; Shanti, Mekong, Donna, Gulab, Tamara, Tonya, Janita and her baby Max never dreamt of an incident as bad as the one that took place with Max. The situation was very ironical as the facility was specially designed to protect the Indian elephant, a species under threat of extinction. In order to achieve their objective of conserving some selected animal species, the zoo encouraged breeding programs. This was the reason which disheartened the zoo-staff all the more when it came to Max’s current condition.

A Space To Roam

002-mother-and-babyThe interesting fact that I haven’t told you yet is that Max’s father Mekong was also present in the zoo, but unluckily, he was not present around his family when the tragedy struck. The fact that Max was a very active and healthy baby elephant left the zookeepers surprised when they saw him lying stationary on the ground. According to them, “ Max spends most of the day in outdoor areas running and frolicking around.” Elephant Valley was the name 0f the vast elephant habitat inside the Prague Zoo. One can judge in an instant by the looks of it that the place was dedicated to providing the animals a natural environment to grow and a large amount of space was assigned so that the elephants could live peacefully together and enjoy their lives away from any possible trouble.

The Zookeepers Step In

009-keepersThe moment that Janita had been waiting for and had given her all had come. The zookeepers who you can see in the image wearing red t-shirts came to the rescue of Janita’s sweet little son Max. There was an evident sense of relief on Janita’s face as the expressions of worry and fear were no more to be seen when she saw the zookeepers approaching her baby. The training given to the zookeepers to deal with such situations could not help them from getting concerned and serious after looking at the pathetic state of Max. An equally concerned Janita decided to accompany the zookeepers towards Max. The strangest thing amidst the whole hustle and bustle was the calmness with which Max was lying on the ground with no sign of panic. The whole quagmire was going to get over very soon.