S29. Embracing Trust: Elephant’s Remarkable Connection to Conservation Initiatives. S29

The trust between an elephant and his keeper was caught on camera after the gentle giant was left unfazed by intrusive medical treatment.

The astonishing footage was recorded at the Elephant Rescue Centre in Botswana.

Jabu lies down on coMMAnd before allowing the conservation worker to walk directly towards him and squeeze ointment into his eye.

In the video, Jabu can be seen striding across the sandy terrain towards the male keeper.

The keeper raises his hand and places it on the maMMAl’s leg before calmly saying: ‘Jabu, lie down.’

There is a brief pause before the elephant does exactly as he is asked and bends his back legs to collapse himself to the ground.

He stretches his front legs out in front of him and flops down onto his side.

The astonishing footage was recorded at the Elephant Rescue Centre in Botswana as the keeper raises his hand and places it on the maMMAl’s leg before calmly saying: ‘Jabu, lie down’

There is a brief pause before the elephant does exactly as he is asked and bends his back legs to fold down onto the ground

The conservation worker says ‘good boy’ and throws Jabu a handful of food as a reward.

He then walks up to the elephant to assess his eye and says: ‘I think that’s starting to look a little bit better.’

The worker pulls out a small white bottle of antibiotic drops and leans in closer.

Jabu sighs heavily and blinks as flies continue to buzz around his face.

The keeper says ‘Jabu, stay’ before grabbing hold of the elephant’s eyelashes with his left hand and pulling his eye open.

The conservation worker says ‘good boy’ and throws a handful of food into Jabu’s mouth as a rewa

The keeper pulls out a small white bottle of antibiotic drops and leans in closer. Jabu sighs heavily and blinks as flies continue to buzz around his face

It becomes clear that Jabu’s eye is red and irritated as the keeper repeatedly squeezes the liquid under the elephant’s eyelids.

Both the keeper and the woman behind the camera offer words of encouragement to the patient once the ordeal is over.

The gentle giant then cheekily sits with his mouth open waiting for an extra treat and the keeper obliges with several more handfuls of nuts.

He pats Jabu’s trunk and begins to walk away before telling him that he can now get up.

The elephant heaves himself to his feet and the video ends shortly afterward.

It becomes clear that Jabu’s eye is red and irritated as the keeper repeatedly squeezes the liquid under the elephant’s eyelids

The keeper pats Jabu’s trunk and begins to walk away before telling him that he can now get up. The elephant heaves himself to his feet and the video ends shortly afterward

The clip was originally recorded in December but has recently re-emerged online.

Workers at the rescue center, which is run by the Living with Elephants Foundation, noticed that Jabu had been suffering from a watery eye and decided to treat it by administering three doses of antibiotics per day.

Jabu, who is the bull of the herd, was orphaned in Kruger National Park, South Africa, during a culling operation.

He is now 31 years old, stands over 11.4 feet (3.5 meters) tall, and weighs 5.5 tons.

But as well as his eye infection he also battles with a wrist injury and osteoarthritis after an encounter with a wild bull in 2016 in a coNFLict for status.

He, along with other members of the herd, will feature in an upcoming TV series called Dodo Heroes on Animal Planet in June.