Long’uro is a sweet baby Elephant that lost his trunk in a tragic accident.
In a heartbreaking TikTok posted by PBS Nature as part of their “Becoming Elephant: The Orphans of Reteti” series, the narrator and his rescue mother revealed that Long’uro lost his trunk at just a few weeks old.
“Long’uro fell into a well,” she explained. “The mother tried her best to take the baby out, but she lost hope and left [him] inside the well.” After being left in the well, Long’uro waved his trunk to try to get someone’s attention to rescue him the whole night.
“A hyena came at night and just grabbed the trunk,” she continued. “Three-quarters of the trunk is gone [and Long’uro is] feeling pain.” While recounting the story, his rescue mother got emotional and added that, “Even when Long’uro arrived with a wound, it makes everyone cry.”
“It makes you feel like it’s your own baby suffering like that,” she said. “We were wishing that he would get better quickly so that he could survive with all the wounds and pain.”
Despite his heartbreaking injury, Long’uro still went up to her and asked for plenty of pets and affection, but seeing him that way broke so many people’s hearts.
“Such a kind woman,” one person commented on the video. “Wish more people had this level of empathy 🥺.”
“The way she became emotional,” another one pointed out. “I’m glad Long’uro has people who care looking after him now.”
“Their trunk is everything to them,” another person pointed out, and noted that Elephants have “40,000 individual muscles in the trunk,” while “[humans] have [around 600] in our entire body.”
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According to the Cleveland Zoological Society, “The trunk is connected to the elephant’s head by a bony opening in its skull” and is used to help an elephant “eat, drink, trumpet, smell, communicate with each other, and grab objects.”
After Long’uro finally healed from his injury, he had to learn to adapt to his new lifestyle. The narrator explained that he “had to develop his own ways to survive” at only eight months old.
“When he was a very small boy, he was struggling to browse,” his rescue mother said. “But Long’uro found good ways to adapt. When the other [elephants] are using their trunk, he kneels down and uses his mouth like a cow.”
Episode one of “Becoming Elephant: The Orphans of Reteti” is now available to watch on PBS’s YouTube channel.
Related: Heartbreaking Video of Elephant at Denver Zoo Doing Circus Trick Has the Internet in Tears
This story was originally published by PetHelpful on Apr 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the Pet News section. Add PetHelpful as a Preferred Source by clicking here.