Safari-goers spotted the heartbreaking sight of a baby elephant without its trunk.

Footage captured in Kruger National Park, South Africa, shows the calf wandering around with its family.

The poor creature is bizarrely lacking the iconic appendage.

It is not known how this occurred, but the filmer writes that it was likely removed by a predator.

He adds: "Crocodiles grabbing baby elephants by their trunks while drinking water have been recorded in Kruger before and this was the most likely reason for this baby elephant losing its crucially important body part.

The filmer circulated the video to his field guides in the Kruger area, hoping someone would spot the elephant again but so far there has been no sign of it.

"Finding this elephant again in a population of 20,000-plus elephants roaming the 2.5 million hectares of Kruger Park seems to be an impossible task and we can only hope for luck."

He adds: "An individual can simply not survive without its trunk. Elephants use their trunks to feed, drink water and smell.

"Unfortunately, the future for this poor little one looked very bleak."

Baby elephants are rated amongst the most adorable animals on this planet and loved all over the world. During a recent safari in Kruger National Park we came across a baby elephant that did not look so cute at all. To our shock we quickly realized that this poor baby elephant was missing its whole trunk. It looked really bizarre to see an elephant without its trunk while we could see that this baby elephant’s trunk was torn off by some kind of predator during a horrific incident. Crocodiles grabbing baby elephants by their trunks while drinking water have been recorded in Kruger before and this was the most likely reason for this baby elephant losing its crucially important body part. An individual can simply not survive without its trunk. Elephants use their trunks to feed, drink water and smell. Unfortunately the future for this poor little one looked very bleak.