Elephants Help Rescue 18-Wheeler Truck Stuck In Louisiana

(Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office)

Forget calling for a tow truck — there’s another road rescue team in place and they probably work for peanuts. But seriously, while it might sound like a joke to have a couple of elephants helping out a stuck semi-truck on the side of the road, it’s all too delightfully true.

A pair of pachyderms was put to work assisting the 18-wheeler trailer they were traveling in when it got stuck on the side of the highway in Nachitoches Parish, LA, reports WTVR.com. They’re seen in photos of the incident leaning against the truck, guided by their handler, as the vehicle appears to be on the verge of tipping over.

Sheriff’s deputies arriving on the scene were surprised to find animals heaving and ho-ing instead of say, a guy with a tow truck. Because again, elephants!

“When deputies arrived on scene, they were astounded to find two elephants keeping the 18-wheeler from overturning,” a sheriff’s department spokesman wrote. “The truck became stuck after the driver pulled off the edge of the soft shoulder. Recent rains caused the ground off of the shoulder to be soft.”

To take the weight off the animals, a local wrecker service was called in to help remove the truck, the sheriff’s office adds.

The truck now owes the elephants a solid, you know. And it better deliver, because these guys do not forget.

Sheriff’s deputies shocked to find elephants holding up tipped 18-wheeler [WTVR.com]