While in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania: We were inspecting a stump that we would later spend the night on when our guide, Chagamba, said “there was a young buffalo stuck in the mud”. It’s hard to see but you can hear it screaming for help. The buffalo is about 100 meters away, in the distance there is a hole of water that is drying up from the rainy season.
After climbing down from the tree, we went to the calf. The ranger traveling with us had to convince several adult female buffaloes to move so we could safely reach the calf.
Finally, Chagamba took off his boots, rolled up his pants, and waded into the mud. It took about ten minutes to get the calf out and help it stand on its own.
We left the calf with a herd of robed buffalo watching from afar. We returned later that evening to spend the night in the tree and the calf was gone so we assumed it was back in the herd.
