Meet the Rescued Orphaned Baby Elephants That You Can’t Help But ‘Fall in Love With’ (VIDEO)

Is there anything more adorable than the sight of some baby elephants having fun? There is something about the way they run and jump around, calling out to one another, that can melt even the coldest of hearts. In the two-minute clip above – which is taken from the National Geographic documentary Explorer: Warlords of Ivory – investigative journalist Bryan Christy takes some time out to relax with a group of orphaned elephants from the Ithumba Release Camp in Kenya’s Tsavo East National Park.

The young elephants are friendly and accepting of his presence, and even take him to meet a herd of wild adults. Christy described his encounter with this herd as “an extraordinary opportunity” and added that he couldn’t “help but fall in love” with the babies! His affection for the elephants is plain to see.

While this video extract from “Explorer: Warlords of Ivory” is light-hearted and sweet, the documentary as a whole deals with the very serious topic of how the killing of elephants for their ivory tusks helps fund terrorism in Africa. Christy explained, “A booming Chinese middle class with an insatiable taste for ivory, crippling poverty in Africa, weak and corrupt law enforcement, and more ways than ever to kill an elephant have created a perfect storm. The result: some 30,000 African elephants are slaughtered every year – more than 100,000 between 2010 and 2012 – and the pace of killing is not slowing. Most illegal ivory goes to China, where a pair of ivory chopsticks can bring more than a thousand dollars and carved tusks sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

To find out how YOU can help end wildlife poaching, click here. You can also show your Support by checking out these ten amazing organizations who are working to protect animals endangered by the illegal wildlife trade.