Savannah, a female baby elephant, was rescued on the 13th of January 2019 after having fallen into an old and abandoned well in China village, near Sumbawanga in South Tanzania, in-between Lake Rukwa and Lake Tanganyika. She had been born to an elephant herd that is known to cross in and out of Tanzania into Zambia. Since the herd could not pull her back out of the hole, they had to abandon her in the end, particularly with large crowds of people gathering to see the little trapped elephant.
From Savannah’s countless attempts to climb out, the in- and outside of her mouth, as well as the back of her hind legs were covered in deep abrasions which had already developed into badly infected wounds. The calf, estimated to have been three months at the time of her rescue, was very hesitant to drink any fluids.
On the 13th of January, 2019, Savannah was first transported by car from China village to Sumbawanga airstrip, the second part of the journey was done by aircraft. Once the elephant calf reached the rescue center, an inspection of the mouth showed the reason for resistance to drink and eat: hematoma, lesions and necrotizing tissue on lips, mucous skin of mouth and chin. There were additional lesions on the forehead, feet and legs due to it constantly struggling to get out of the hole.
