by Vocativ Staff

Two elephants were rescued from the sea in Sri Lanka in a joint mission by the Sri Lankan Navy & wildlife officials.

When the elephants were swept out to sea by strong currents, the Sri Lankan Navy deployed a flotilla of boats and a team of naval divers for the mission. Using long ropes to tie around the mammals, the flotilla was able to guide them back to shore. The elephants were eventually released into the Foul Point jungle, but the rescue operation took about 5 hours to complete.

It has only been two weeks since the Sri Lankan Navy’s last elephant rescue. It’s likely the elephants were trying to cross shallow lagoons when they were swept out to the ocean.

The World Wildlife Fund says there are only a few thousand of the endangered Sri Lankan Elephants left in the wild.

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