The huge giraffe had actually come to be stuck in mud near Amu Ranch, run by the Lamu Conservation Count On, on the northern coast of Kenya. And even though the enormous animal towered over the rescuers from the Amu Patrol Team and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) that came to aid him, they never ever gave up.

Fortunately, a tractor donated by the David Sheldrick Wild Animals Trust (DSWT) was a big aid in helping this big guy out of the mud.

Saving the giraffe wasn’t just an act of kindness– it was also a little action toward aiding giraffes as a types. Over the past three years, giraffe populaces have plummeted by nearly 40 percent, from about 163,000 in 1985 to simply over 97,000 in 2015.

” The major threats facing giraffes are habitat destruction, bushmeat poaching and human-wildlife problem,” Amie Alden, spokesperson for DSWT. ” Couple of people know that these iconic species are under threat and that, in localized areas, giraffes can soon be driven to extinction. Many are captured in poachers’ traps and snares and deal with a slow and painful fatality if rescuers like our Vet Units can’t reach them.”

Rescuers from DSWT have actually helped the KWS with over 180 giraffe rescues to date, saving them from snares and treating spear and arrow injuries– and, in this case, pulling them out of a tight spot.

After 3 hrs of gruelingly hard labor, the rescuers managed to pull the giraffe out of the mud. And he took a moment to rest on solid ground before walking off– almost like nothing happened.