A baby elephant has died after suffering horrific injuries when a hunter tied her up and abandoned her in a forest in eastern Thailand.
The one-month-old elephant was found by villagers in Rayong, tethered to a fence with a rope cutting deep into her ankle and exposing her bone.
Heartbreaking: The one-month-old elephant was found by villagers in Rayong, eastern Thailand, tethered to a fence with a rope cutting so deep into her ankle her bone was exposed
Baby elephants are completely dependent on their mothers for food until they are around two years old, and it is not known what happened to Baitong’s mother.
Veterinarians ruled the elephant’s food needed to be amputated in order to save her life
Despite initially making a recovery after the surgery, Baitong collapsed and died last week
Buangsook said vets had noticed that she was slowly starting to recover, but she still need to be under 24-hour care.