Elephants are among the animals whose intelligence has been proven. Yet, they are also sensitive, as rescuers in China saw when one elephant sought to save a smaller elephant who had fallen into a trench filled with water. According to the GMA News Feed footage, the elephant collapsed in the middle of a Yunnan province forest reserve where elephants are allowed to wander.

In order to plan how to rescue the animal, the rescuers used a drone to fly over the region where the pit was located. The crumpled elephant made an attempt to escape the mucky pit, but failed. Then the rescuers came up with the idea of hiring a tractor to dig a trench that the elephant could exit from.

But before the rescue crew could arrive, a larger elephant arrived and appeared to communicate with the injured elephant. The larger elephant appeared to comfort the injured friend by patting it on the long snout. Following then, the large elephant sought to figure out how to rescue the downed animal. Yet he fell short. He sat down on the side of the pit when he appeared exhausted but didn’t walk away from his friend.

“The elephant wanted to rescue the trapped elephant in its own way, and the trapped one struggled to get out but failed,” said Zeng Weiyi of the Mengman Forestry Service Center. “Then we sent for an excavator here for the rescue efforts.

In Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, a wild Asian elephant was saved and is now free to roam. Given its A-level governmental protection, China places a high focus on the preservation of elephants. There are now 300 elephants living there, and before the wildlife protection program was strengthened, the population was in danger.