This is the heart-wrenching moment a baby elephant found its mother dead in the forest – and refused to leave her side.
The two-year-old calf nudges its mother again and again – and even sits on her – during the vigil in Rajaji Reserve Forest in northern India.
The desperate attempt to rouse the 40-year-old mother went on for hours until a rescue team was sent in to take the baby away from the sad scene.
Heartbreaking footage shows baby elephant by dead mother’s side
The desperate attempt to rouse the 40-year-old mother went on for hours until a rescue team was sent in to take the baby away from the sad scene
The two-year-old calf nudges its mother again and again – and even sits on her – during the vigil in Rajaji Reserve Forest in northern India
The two tamed elephants brought in to drag the youngster away from the scene – named ‘Rangeeli’ and ‘Radha’ – struck rangers as being overwhelmed by sadness at their task
Park rangers guessed the mother elephant had died after falling down a hill and getting her neck stuck in a tree.
Sanatan Sonkar, director of Rajaji Forest Reserve, said: ‘The baby calf simply refused to leave its mother. It would feel the dead body of the fallen giant occasionally with its legs and trunk, hoping to elicit a response from her.’
‘It was a tedious task to rescue the crying calf from the spot as it couldn’t be left alone, so we took help of other elephants in the reserve to rescue the baby elephant,’ he added.
The two tamed elephants brought in to drag the youngster away from the scene – named ‘Rangeeli’ and ‘Radha’ – struck rangers as being overwhelmed by sadness at their task.
Park rangers guessed the mother elephant had died after falling down a hill and getting its neck stuck in a tree
Rangers also pulled on the baby’s tail to persuade it to budge, before it was eventually pushed onto the back of a lorry
The director of the camp where the young elephant has been sent said: ‘The calf has now been adopted by one of the jumbos who was present in the rescue operation, and the baby seems to be liking its new found mother’
Rangers also pulled on the baby’s tail to persuade it to budge, before it was eventually pushed onto the back of a lorry.
The bereaved calf has now been sent to an elephant camp, where officials say it is being well looked after.
The director of the camp said: ‘The calf has now been adopted by one of the jumbos who was present in the rescue operation, and the baby seems to be liking its new found mother.’