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)
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
However, animal behaviour expert Frans de Waal of Emory University, said that it’s possible the elephants don’t remember each other, but are just a compatible pair.
‘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.’
Whatever the case, the sanctuary says: ‘Now, Mae Yui’s owners and Elephant Nature Park are working together to rehabilitate Mae Yui and Me-Bai so that they can return to the wild and live free.’
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