Sure, the most discussed case of animals dealing with people this year is the tragic story of Harambe the Gorilla, who was killed after a child fell into his cage in a zoo. But let’s not forget that sometimes animals can become our only saviors during a serious crisis. Let’s recall 20 awe-insipring stories of animals helping people.

 

20. Kham Lha the Swimming Elephant

Over the course of its work, Save Elephant Foundation in Chiang Mai, Thailand, has rescued over 70 elephants. One of them was little female elephant named Kham Lha, who became very attached to the Foundation’s co-founder Darrick Thomson. So when Thomson was recently swimming and called out Kham Lha’s name, the elephant stormed to the water to provide her body as a floating device. Turned out Thomson didn’t really need saving, but the episode is still too cute to handle.

19. Shark-Fighting Dolphins

Why didn’t they ever use dolphins in the battles with sharks in the Jaws movies?! Back in 2007, 24-year-old Californian Todd Endris was attacked by a 15-foot-long Great White shark when he was surfing Monterey Bay’s Marina State Beach. The shark bit off a chunk of his foot, but couldn’t do any more damage since a pack of dolphins came to Endris’ rescue and formed a protective ring around him. Todd Edris sadly died this year after the injuries he received in a car crash.

18. Helpful Belugas

Back in 2009, a diver named Yang Yun was participating in a free-diving competition in North East China’s aquarium when her right leg suddenly cramped up at 15-feet depth. Considering Yun was preparing to become a whale trainer, it’s almost magical that two beluga whales came to her rescue, helping her to the surface.