Sometimes you just need a helping hand. Or, in this case, a helping trunk. (Sorry.)
When an elephant calf got stuck in a mud pit at South Africa’s Kruger National Park, his mom quickly arrived on the scene to help him out. She struggled for a bit until other members of the herd came by to join forces to scoop the baby up and out safely. The whole ordeal takes about two minutes — and then they all frolic off into the distance.
Oh, after he gets out of the mud, the baby stumbles a few times because he is precious and perfect.
February 8, 1937 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Charles J. Belden).LIFE MagazineMarch 1, 1937 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Henry M. Lester).LIFE MagazineApril 26, 1937 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Torkel Korling).LIFE MagazineJuly 26, 1937 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt).LIFE MagazineJanuary 10, 1938 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Lane Flinders).LIFE MagazineDecember 12, 1938 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by George Karger).LIFE MagazineApril 3, 1944 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Nina Leen).LIFE MagazineSeptember 9, 1946 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Martha Holmes).LIFE MagazineSeptember 23, 1946 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Frank Scherschel).LIFE MagazineNovember 4, 1946 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by David Douglas Duncan).LIFE MagazineAugust 23, 1948 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Jon Brenneis).LIFE MagazineJanuary 31, 1949 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by George Karger).LIFE MagazineOctober 8, 1951 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Burton Glinn).LIFE MagazineNovember 30, 1953 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Fritz Goro).LIFE MagazineDecember 22, 1952 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Ed Clark).LIFE MagazineMarch 22, 1954 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Roger Kirschner).LIFE MagazineNovember 8, 1954 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Gjon Mili).LIFE MagazineNovember 24, 1958 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Ralph Crane).LIFE MagazineMarch 16, 1959 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Dmitri Kessel).LIFE MagazineJune 27, 1960 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Fritz Goro).LIFE MagazineFebruary 10, 1961 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Henry Burroughs).LIFE MagazineMarch 1, 1963 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Nina Leen).LIFE MagazineJune 19, 1964 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Francis Miller).LIFE MagazineJanuary 6, 1967 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by John Dominis).LIFE MagazineDecember 5, 1969 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by John Dominis).LIFE MagazineLIFE magazine cover of 01-30-1970 w. pic of snow monkey of Japan in water, by Co Rentmeester.LIFE Magazine
