The mother had panicked on a nearby golf course after her calf fell into a drainage pit and was unable to get out. She kept rescuers away from her baby and had to be sedated. The relief troops retrieved the calf from the pit with heavy equipment, but poignant video images show that reviving the mother is even more difficult.
Quick work by employees who apply massage with great force to get the mother back on her feet finally has results. Mother and calf have returned to the jungle.
There are several thousand elephants living in Thai reserves, but the occasional young stray, sometimes with dramatic consequences. In 2019, 11 adult elephants were killed in a waterfall trying to reach a cub that had gotten into trouble.