A heartwarming video of a 15-day-old elephant calf rescued from floodwaters has melted hearts online. The 29-second clip, shared by Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Parveen Kaswan, captures the gentle moment when the baby elephant is carefully escorted down from a pickup truck into its temporary new home.
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Rescue and care
According to Kaswan, forest officials initially tried to reunite the young calf with its mother after rescuing it from a river in another district. However, the mother did not accept the calf back, leaving the team with no choice but to take the baby under expert care.
“A 15-day-old elephant calf rescued from the river during recent floods in another district. After failed reunion attempts with her mother, as a last resort, she’s under expert care at one of our Pilkhana,” Kaswan wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
He added, “Healthy, active, and responding well. Such a small kid.”
{{/usCountry}}He added, “Healthy, active, and responding well. Such a small kid.”
{{/usCountry}}Take a look here at the clip:
Social media reaction
The heartwarming clip has garnered over 49k views, with users expressing a mix of joy, empathy, and concern. Many praised the officials for their compassion and dedication to wildlife welfare.
One user wrote, “Hope the calf is able to move back to the wild. Such a sweetie pie.” Another wondered, “Is it usually a first-time parent that does this? What causes an elephant mother to reject? They’ve such strong memories and family understanding.”
Many were moved by the situation. “Just 15 days old and separated… so sad,” commented one user, while another added, “Such a cuteee! Must be missing her mama so badly.” A user expressed surprise, saying, “It’s strange that a mother elephant refused her own calf. In the herd, all elephants seem to take turns to care for each other’s babies.”
“She seems sad but with your love and care she will surely grow up to be a brave one. Thank you guys,” one comment read, while another added, “Nature can be cruel at times, but the kindness of humans restores balance.”