Swamped elephant rescued in Yunnan

A wild Asian elephant trapped in a mud pit was saved in southwest China's Yunnan Province on Monday. The forest police immediately dispatched staff to rescue the trapped elephant after receiving a call from a nearby resident. The elephant was struggling to climb up until an excavator in the location dug out a sloping surface. After hours of rescue, the adult elephant returned to the nature reserve safely.

Asian elephants can be identified by their smaller, rounded ears. They live in forested regions of southwest China and throughout Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. Threats to wild Asian elephant populations include habitat loss from deforestation and agricultural development, as well as conflict with humans as elephants seek space and raid crops grown close to their forest habitats.