A four year old elk at the Pocatello Zoo in Idaho saved a drowning marmot from his water tank and the zookeepers caught the whole rescue on tape.
The elk, named ‘Shooter’, who is ten feet tall if you count the antlers, kept at it for fifteen minutes, apparently unable to figure out how to get the animal out of the tank.
He first tried to lift the trapped ground squirrel out with his legs and with his antlers before gently picking him up in his mouth and putting him down on the ground.
He then gently nudged the squirrel with his hooves as it lay on the ground seeming to check whether it was alive.
After a few minutes, the marmot regained its strength and scampered away unharmed.
The Daily Mail also published this article on this amazing cross species rescue.
