Every so often there are animals who need some help from us humans. It’s in our nature to rise to the occasion and come to their aid. From stranded sloths and lonely kittens to snowbound moose and elephants stuck in mud, these stories of humans helping animals inspire and provoke.
This video by Honey Nut Cheerios shows a montage of animal rescues, reminding us that we need to help the animal species around us. It culminates in a story of another animal in need: the bee. Bees and other pollinators are responsible for 1 in 3 bites of food we eat. Without them we would not have coffee, berries and many other things we take for granted.
Taking inspiration from this captivating video, here are the 5 most heartwarming animal rescue stories from Mashable’s archives.
A thirsty koala in need of a drink
While peddling through Adelaide, Australia, Nick Lothian and his cycling buddies came across a dehydrated koala stranded on the side of the road. When the group stopped, the adorable marsupial climbed the bike tire and happily took a drink -- creating one of the most incredible photo ops of all time. Koalas usually get their hydration from plants, like eucalyptus, but in times of drought they’ll seek out water. The friends stayed by the koala’s side until animal rescue workers were able to arrive and give the little guy the proper help he needed.
A group of friends out to do some ice skating in Sweden became impromptu animal rescuers when they came across a wild boar stranded on the ice. The poor guy couldn’t get the traction he needed to get to shore, so the ice skaters gently nudged him to safety using their poles to keep the aggressive animal at a safe distance. Experts believe that the wild boars may have run out of food on an island in the middle of the water and were in search of food, becoming stranded on the ice during their journey to the mainland.
You’d think these gentle giants of the north would know there way around the snow. But for this elk in Oregon, the drifts were more than he could handle. When he got stuck, a pair of state police troopers came to his side, hoisting him out of the deep snow with rope. In this bodycam video, you can see as they free the elk and send him on his way.
An adorable sloth tried to cross a busy highway in Ecuador but wound up getting stranded by the side of the road, clinging for dear life to a guard rail. Transit police came to the little guy’s rescue and posted all about it on their Facebook page.
A dog that fell through the ice
