Ellie, a baby elephant rejected by his own herd had little desire to live, but this all changed when he met his new best friend Duma, a former service and sniffer dog.

Ellie had no family and to make matters worse, he was also fighting an umbilical chord infection. Rescuers from South Africa’s Thula Thula Rhino Orphanage tried nursing the elephant back to health, and even though they succeeded in meeting the elephant’s nutritional needs, his emotional state deteriorated with each passing day.

The orphaned elephant longed for a herd, a friend, someone he could make a strong connection with, and that someone was Duma.

As soon as Ellie met Duma, the baby elephant’s life change. Now Ellie is happy, plays, runs and shows that he has something to look forward too each day – his best friend Duma, the dog.