Inspired
Humans cannot easily understand the way animals speak, but whoever heard this collective cry would know that it was inspired out of love and support for their family in trouble. The bigger elephants were not physically able to help, but they used their voices to call out for those who could.
The thought of waiting around and crying seems like an impractical solution to most people, but considering their mass, it was also the only thing that they could have done. Still, the loud cries continued, and they weren’t giving up on that.