This Gentle Elephant Was Shot In The Head, Wait Until You See What He Did To Ask For Help!

Pretty Boy, is quite the handsome elephant, but after having been shot, and surviving the attack, he knew that he was in desperate need of help

The poor elephant had walked around with his terrible wounds for several weeks.

When veterinarians from the Animal and Wildlife Area Research and Rehabilitation Trust (AWARE), which is a wildlife conservation organization in Zimbabwe, reached Mana Pools National Park after finding out about the injured elephant, Pretty Boy showed up right away, asking the vets for the help he needed without making the vets search for him themselves.

“He made himself available for examination within half an hour, coming right up to their car,” wrote AWARE on Facebook.

“An extremely gentle and relaxed bull, the vets managed to get a good look at what immediately became apparent was a hole going into his forehead,” read the post.

After tranquilizing the elephant they took him in for an X-ray, which showed a warped bullet there inside of the poor guys head.

“Bullets are usually sterile when they penetrate tissue as they generate so much heat, so if they don’t hit a vital structure they can often be left,” said Dr. Lisa Marabini, the director of AWARE.

This was exactly Pretty Boy’s situation. He had been hit just a few centimeters too high for a “kill shot.” Instead of killing Pretty Boy, the bullet had grazed his skull, which resulted in a fracture in the bones of his sinuses.

In addition, the head wound was infected. “It was essential to remove the dead pieces of bone so that the body could continue to heal the infection,” said Marabini.

Marabini also suspects that whoever shot Pretty Boy must have also tried aiming for his heart, but struck his shoulder instead, due to the fact that there was an abscess there too from another bullet.

“We think he was shot outside the park and came into the park for refuge,” she said. “Whether it was a poacher or a hunt gone wrong, we can only guess.”

Marabini also noted that a professional hunter would have used a more suitable bullet. An old scar located near Pretty Boy’s spine also indicates that he was probably shot at before in his past.

But, she stated, even though humans had done so much to try and hurt him, Pretty Boy was still exceptionally gentle toward the people who helped take care of him.

“I never usually feel totally comfortable getting very close to a wild elephant,” she said. “But he literally emanated serenity. There were no aggressive vibes coming from him whatsoever.”

As soon as his head wound was cleaned out, Pretty Boy was given some long-lasting antibiotics and parasiticides. When he finally woke up, AWARE wrote, Pretty Boy was happy enough to just take a nap against a tree.

“The following day he was feeling much happier and very relaxed,” wrote AWARE. “His progress will be monitored by the tour operators in the area and, if necessary, a follow-up treatment will be done.”

Even though it will take Pretty Boy a while to heal, said Marabini, at least now he’s got a fighting chance.

“He came 5 centimeters close to death,” Marabini said in a news interview. “He was lucky.”

Take a look at the incredible video below of another elephant that was targeted by poachers and saved by other wonderful vets that tend to these magnificent animals:

If you’d like to keep up with Pretty Boy as he recovers, and read about other rescues, you can follow AWARE on Facebook.

Source: http://www.hypedojo.com/this-gentle-elephant-was-shot-in-the-head-wait-until-you-see