Orphaned Baby Elephant Gets The Warmest Welcome By Other Elephants After Being Rescued
This story brought tears to my eyes, and I'm sure it's going to hit you right in the feels too. Before we go ahead and dive into this beautiful story, let's get to know the gentle giant.
Elephants aren't just massive animals with a beating heart, they're termed as sentient beings who can understand and respond to different sensations, just like humans.
Not only do they have the largest brain on the planet, but they also have three times more neurons than humans. Elephants are smart, and according to some experts, they're self-aware too.
Researchers found out that elephants can tell each other apart and even recognize themselves in the mirror. However, elephants are at the risk of becoming extinct due to illegal poaching and loss of habitat.
To prevent this from happening, we have many parks and sanctuaries in place to save our precious animals from going extinct. One such place is the elephant rescue and rehabilitation center in Northern Thailand called the Elephant Nature Park.
Located about 60 kilometers from Chiang Mai City, the Elephant Nature Park was co-founded by Sangduen "Lek" Chailert, who passionately believes in saving these beautiful giants and saving them from being killed.
Now let's meet Dok Gaew, the young orphaned elephant.
Meet Dok Gaew, the Young Giant.
Dok Gaew was just two years old when his mother passed away, leaving him orphaned in the wild. While we don't know how Dok Gaew's mother passed on, we do know that he was devastated, scared, and confused at the same time.
Now, as you probably already know, elephants are social creatures, just like humans, and they're also extremely protective of their young, even if they belong to other elephant families.
Elephant Nature ParkDok Gaew's Emotional Welcome
It wasn't long after his mother passed away that rescuers found him weeping and crying for her company. They knew the dangers he faced alone in the wild, and so they brought him to the Elephant Nature Park.
Although the staff was afraid that the resident herd wouldn't accept him, they brought him in to help him feel safe. Little did they know that elephants living at the park were overjoyed and gave him a welcome no one expected!
Elephant Nature ParkDok Gaew Receives the Warmest Welcome on the Planet
As soon as the elephants heard Dok Gaew's cries from across the fields, the entire herd ran to welcome him, as if telling him that he was home. The staff and those who watched the video were in tears as the elephants' reaction towards the orphaned young giant hit them right in the feels.
Naturally so because I bet you've never seen anything as emotional as this before. They greeted him and made him feel better in their own beautiful way.
Check out Dok Gaew's warm welcome in the video below:
There's so much we can learn from animals if we only look harder. Had it not been for this video, we'd have never known how gentle, caring, and loving elephants really are.
Now that we've seen how gentle elephants are, we should do our bit to save them from extinction. It's unfair to have to poach and kill an animal just to get what's rightfully theirs.
Here's hoping that this video helps create the awareness we need to save our animals from cruelty and death.
