DAR ES SALAAM- The Chinese construction company Sinohydro has dispatched engineers and a bulldozer to Rungwa Game Reserve in central Tanzania to free five wild elephants from a pit.
Four, including two baby elephants, were saved but one adult elephant died from dehydration, Liang Jifeng with the Tanzanian Department of Sinohydro Bureau 13 confirmed to Xinhua on Saturday.
According to the Sinohydro source, some Manyoni natives of the Singida region rushed to the Sinohydro employers’ working base around 40 km from the reserve on Wednesday afternoon, calling them to help some trapped elephants.
More than an hour later, the Chinese rescue team arrived at the spot and started to carry out their rescue plan with the permission of local governors and the operators of the reserve.
Local sources said the elephants fell into the pit while searching for water. The pit was so small that the elephants shoved each other in panic.
After five hours’ of work, a female elephant and her baby were the first to walk out of the pit. Two others followed them later but one adult elephant died.
“China, China!” Locals who witnessed the rescue process applauded the Chinese company’s help while the elephants slowly left, Sinohydro told Xinhua.
Elephants are loved by the local people. Chinese companies working in Africa also pay great attention to wildlife protection.
In his address to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in Johannesburg in December 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged additional support to promote wildlife and ecological conservation in Africa.
