The old adage that an elephant never forgets appears to be true, based on a touching video showing an Asian elephant returning to her mother after years apart.
After a 62-mile (100km) trek through the Thai jungle, Me-Bai, the small elephant can be seen nuzzling her mother, Mae Yui, while the pair joyfully flap their ears and caress each other with their trunks in the Elephant Nature Park sanctuary, in the north of the country.
Me-Bai was sold to provide rides for tourists in Thailand when she was three-and-a-half years old, and didn’t see her mother, who also worked in the trade, for three years.
It would appear to be true that an elephant never forgets, based on a touching video showing an Asian elephant returning to her mother after years apart (pictured)
It is particularly sad because females tend to stick together in herds until they die, sharing incredibly strong bonds. They are very rarely separated before the calf is five years of age.
The small elephant was sold to provide rides for tourists in Thailand when she was three-and-a-half years old, and didn’t see her mother, who also worked in the trade, for three years. They are pictured here togeher
After a 62-mile (100km) trek through the Thai jungle, Me-Bai, the small calf can be seen nuzzling her mother, Mae Yui, and joyfully flapping her ears in the Elephant Nature Park sanctuary in the north of the country
‘There is no doubt about elephant feelings and bonding, but we humans like to read the mother-child relation into this,’ he said.
‘It is possible the two remember each other but the video itself does not necessarily prove this.’
Me-Bai was recently rescued and brought to the sanctuary after an exhausting 62 mile (100km) trek in the hot sun that lasted four days. Here the pair walk towards each other at the sanctuary
Workers learned that Me-Bai’s mother was working in the tourist industry nearby and its owners agreed to retire Mae Yui so she could join her young at the sanctuary