Four Forest Elephants Make a Big Move in Cote d’Ivoire (VIDEO)

When animals and people interact, it’s not always for the best, especially when you have a large animal like an elephant involved.

For some time, in the town of Daloa located in Cote d’Ivoire, Africa, a conflict was brewing between villagers and four local elephants living in Marahoue National Park nearby.

As the elephants’ habitat continued to shrink due to agricultural land expansion, human – elephant interaction increased as well and the elephants began to venture closer to the village, resulting in crushed crops and three deaths when an elephant trampled some villagers.

To prevent further conflict, protect the villagers, and to hopefully save the area’s dwindling elephant population, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) stepped in to make an amazing rescue.

In the video below, the IFAW makes a historic transfer of the four elephants that many called impossible. They tranquilized the elephants, restrained them for safety, and trucked them over 300 miles to their new home in the protected area of Azagny National Park.

The operation was not easy and took days to complete but the hope of keeping these beautiful animals alive in a protected area made it well worth it. The four elephants are now safely in the Azagny National Park where they will have much more space to roam.