Yahoo TV

The video shows the bizarre looking sight of a baby elephant missing its trunk, miraculously living, and surviving in the African wild. Elephants are unique in every sense of the word. Elephants are not only massive and highly intelligent, but they are also built in a way that is not seen in any other animal on this planet. An elephant’s trunk is the most unique apparatus not shared by any other mammal. The trunk of an elephant is formed by the merging of the nose and the muscles of the upper lip. The trunk provides a sensitive organ which can be employed as an arm which helps with feeding, a straw for drinking and a nose for smelling and breathing. This makes the elephant’s trunk crucial for their survival. Seeing an elephant without a trunk never even crossed my mind until we recently spotted a baby elephant without a trunk during a safari in the African wild. While watching a herd of elephants, we spotted the very weird looking juvenile elephant. It was one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen. What makes it even more incredible was that this baby elephant was estimated at over two years old, and it clearly was looking like it was surviving without its crucially vital organ. We were totally amazed by what we saw and that the baby elephant still manages to survive. While smelling might not be a problem, I still can’t imagine how the baby elephant manages to drink or eat without its trunk. It is hard to tell when this baby elephant might have lost its trunk, but it looked like it has been without a trunk for some time already as there were no new or fresh wounds to be seen. While crocodiles sometimes do grab elephants by their trunks and bite it off, the more likely explanation was that the baby elephant most likely lost its trunk in a human set wire snare. The baby elephant probably got caught with its trunk in a wire snare and with all the adrenalin created by pain and fear, the baby elephant most probably ripped off its own trunk to free itself from the trap. Unfortunately, wire snares, set by poachers to catch antelope for illegal meat, doesn’t always catch the intended target animal. This baby elephant is a good example of the terrible destruction these wire snares can leave in the African wild. The baby elephant looked in no real discomfort and we left the herd, still in awe and wondering how this baby elephant manages to keep surviving. Hats off to the little fellow.