Video shows dramatic rescue of mother and baby elephant

KHAO YAI NATIONAL PARK, Thailand — Crews worked together to rescue a mother elephant and her young calf that had fallen into a pit in Thailand, and the dramatic effort was caught on camera.

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In video posted to YouTube, The Associated Press shared video of the rescue, which showed crews using tools like a lift and digger to safely move the animals to safety.

The one-year-old elephant calf had fallen into a roadside drainage hole, and its mother stayed watching guard over it, The Guardian reported. When crews sedated the mother in order to safely remove the calf, the adult elephant also fell into the drainage hole.

“It was impossible to get near the baby while the mother was nearby, so we gave her three doses of tranquillizers but she moved towards her baby before passing out and hit her head,” Dr. Chanaya Kanchanasarak, a veterinarian with the Khao Yai National Park Department, told Sky News.

Rescuers used a truck-mounted boom lift to pull the mother out, and used a digger to clear away a path to allow the calf to climb out, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Video shows rescuers frantically jumping up and down on the mother elephant in an attempt to perform CPR. The calf began nursing from the mother elephant, which suddenly jumped up and walked away with its calf into the wild.

“Despite the obstacles, the mother did not leave her baby’s side,” Kanchanasarak told Sky News. “This experience touched our hearts and will be one of the most memorable rescues we’ve done.”

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