Baby elephant rescued and returned to herd after it is freed from bushmeat snare

they darted the elephant. Lt Wilson explained: “We used the helicopter to push the rest of the herd away.

“It then dropped the vet and me 20 yards away and went into a holding pattern to keep the herd back.

“I moved the elephant into a better position and put its ear over its eyes to protect them from the sun.

“The vet cleaned out the wounds with several litres of iodinated water while I monitored its breathing. Once the wound was clear, I started digging with pliers to find the snare. I applied some brute force to cut the thicker wires, and she took it out.

“When we were happy, we signalled to the pilot, gave the antidote and moved to the helicopter. We flew around the elephant until it woke up, and then used the helicopter to usher the herd back towards it. Once the herd noticed it, a female went over and led it off with them.”

Dr Salb said that the calf was likely to recover well – although she will always have some scarring. Her plight underlies the threat posed by snares which are cheap to make yet cause carnage among African wildlife.

An African Parks spokesman said: “Since we assumed management of Lilongwe National Park in 2015, we overhauled law enforcement and our rangers have removed over 31,000 wire snares.”

For Major James Cowen, 29, from Northumberland, commander of the Army’s Malawi deployment, the baby elephant’s ordeal hammered home the threat to this dwindling species.

He said: “The gestation period for an elephant is two years, and the calf has to be with its mother as long as a human child.

“Losing a baby elephant is like losing a child, so to be able to keep this one alive and in its herd with its mother was a fantastic win for us.”