The Sri Lankan navy heroically rescued a poor elephant that was swept out to sea

Somehow, an elephant off the coast of Sri Lanka was swept out to sea.

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Drifting some 10 miles off the coast, the pachyderm was in trouble. It was a good thing a naval vessel was there to save the animal.

Using ropes and wading into the water, they were able to drag the massive creature back to shore.

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Amazingly, this is far from the first such elephant rescue.

The animals are known for wading in the water, and have the reserves to swim thanks to their trunks. But since saltwater is considered a hazard for the elephant’s skin, and this elephant was so far out to sea, the navy thankfully intervened.

“They’re very good swimmers,” Avinash Krishnan, a research officer with the conservation group A Rocha, said. “Swimming about 15 km from the shore is not unusual for an elephant.”