These photos of a baby elephant's muddy rescue will make your day

Animal rescues are uplifting in any circumstance, but when it's a race against the clock and the endangered beast is a baby elephant, well, that pretty well leaps off the heartwarming scale. This calf wandered into a mudhole near the Zambezi River in Africa and had been stuck for more than 12 hours when discovered by tourists. Struggling mightily to free its trunk, the baby was close to drowning when Bradley and Annelize White who operate a nearby lodge responded, launching rescue efforts with ropes, human volunteers, a car and more than 50 gallons of water to soften the hardening mud. "We are keeping an eye on him," said Bradley White, "to make sure he doesn't get into any more sticky situations."

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