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11 endangered wild elephants rescued from mud in Cambodia

11 endangered wild elephants rescued from mud in Cambodia

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cambodian soldiers stand next to a dead wild elephant in the jungle near Cardamom National Park of Kampong Speu province in western of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Tuesday, March 21, 2017. Photo: Wildlife Alliance via AP

PHNOM PENH: Eleven endangered wild elephants in Cambodia were rescued Saturday, four days after getting stuck in mud, officials said. The elephants were rescued in northeastern Mondulkiri province, home to about 250 wild elephants, said Wildlife Alliance official Bothmroath Lebun. The chief of Mondulkiri's environment department, Keo Sopheak, who headed the rescue team, said the elephants were sent back to the jungle where they normally live. He said the animals apparently got stuck in the mud when they went to drink water at a 3-meter-deep hole that was left over from U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War. He said if local villagers had not reported the incident, the elephants would have died from thirst and starvation.