Viral video shows joyful reunion of baby and mother elephant, and it is the most beautiful thing on social media today
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Among most animals in the animal kingdom, Elephants are well known for their deep family bonds and social behavior. As a result, they are especially prone to emotional distress when separated from their herd. Their close-knit groups then use their memory, scent, and touch to stay together, making reunions between lost calves and mothers both urgent and tender.
One such overwhelming incident recently took place at Assam's Kaziranga National Park, which went viral on social media across the country.
A baby elephant, fondly referred to as 'Chotu,' got separated from its herd and was seen visibly distressed. According to a video posted by retired IFS officer Susanta Nanda on X, the forest department took charge to ensure a safe and successful reunion between the calf and its mother.
'Chotu got separated from his mother at Kaziranga. It was united later with its mother. The forest officials applied mother's dung to the calf to suppress human smell.
Happy reunion at the end,' Nanda wrote in his post.
The video shows the little elephant nervously approaching a forest officer's vehicle, sniffing the ground, and looking around anxiously. The officials tracked down the location of the mother elephant. Before reuniting them, one of the forest workers gently applied the mother's dung onto the calf's trunk and legs to mask the human scent, in order to prevent the mother elephant from rejecting the calf.
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A user explained in the comments section, 'For those who don't know: Baby elephants may be rejected by their mothers if separated and handled by humans. If a calf smells too much like humans, the mother might reject it. That's why he applied his mother's dung,'.
The calf finds its mother, and that was truly an emotional and rare moment, as the young elephant slowly walks towards her and lets out a soft trumpet as if in gratitude.
One of the forest officials is heard lovingly saying, 'Haan. Ja, ja ja (Yes, go ahead).'
The post also got appreciated on social media, where one user commented, 'Nature has its own language and forest officials spoke it with heart.' Stories like these from Kaziranga remind us of the compassion behind conservation and how little gestures based on understanding can lead to magical moments in the wild.
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