Animals often show emotions and reactions similar to those of humans, leaving us amazed at their behavior. Perhaps somewhere, deep inside all of us, our basic behavioral patterns have not yet been affected by evolution.
In yet another case of animals reacting in a human-like manner to a situation, elephants in a Zurich zoo rushed to take care of a young elephant that fell down while attempting to climb a step.
The incident took place earlier this year in January. The little elephant named Omysha was trying to climb a stair and reach higher ground. However, its legs proved to not be up to the task and it fell over into a low pit. Before people watching the whole incident could draw their breath for a gasp, a couple of adult elephants rushed over to check on Omysha.
They stepped down into the low pit and gently eased Omysha up and brought her out of the pit from another side. The people watching the whole incident unfold were quite moved by the prompt response and the gentleness with which the adult elephants handled the whole situation.
The video, taken by one of the people watching the incident has since become quite famous on YouTube with over 3 million views. However, it is worth mentioning at this point that while a number of people seem to be under the impression that it was the baby elephant’s parents that rescued her. This is not true. Elephant herds tend to be composed almost exclusively of females. So while it is possible that one of the two adult elephants that rushed in to save Omysha was her mother, it is almost impossible that the other was her father.