Staff and veterinarians at a national park in Thailand have pulled off a wild rescue of a trapped baby elephant and its very distressed mama. Give these people a Nobel prize now.
The one-year-old calf fell into a storm drain in Khao Yai National Park in central Nakhon Nayok.
CNN reported that its mother, freaking out from the panic of not being able to save her baby, fainted from the stress and fell in too. Which is… probably the opposite of what the poor thing was trying to do.
The park staff had to use a digger to remove slabs of mud from the drain and create a slippery path of escape for the crying baby, all while battling the pelting rain bucketing over them.
They then had to use a boom lift to get the mother out, since she wasn’t conscious and therefore couldn’t climb out.
In dramatic footage, the workers can also be seen trying to resuscitate the mother — first by pumping their hands over her chest, and then by literally jumping on her in what was probably the largest-scale CPR ever.
Just look at the baby run to its mama, I’m tearing up. The reunion of the century!!!
Don’t worry though — everyone is totally okay. The baby elephant started suckling when it reached mum, and soon after she woke up.
Both mama and bebe have since totally recovered and returned to the wild from whence they came. I hope they’re comfy and happy, bless.
