Young elephant dies in lorry accident on Malaysia highway, incident draws sympathy as mother doesn't leave its side, Malaysia News
A young male elephant was killed after an accident with a lorry while crossing a highway with its mother in Perak, Malaysia, last Sunday (May 11).
Heartbreaking scenes, captured in a video circulating online, followed thereafter as the mother elephant could be seen staying by her calf laying motionless under the vehicle.
The video, recorded from a vehicle passing by, also shows the mother elephant pressing her head against the side of the lorry, as if attempting to free her calf.
According to Malaysian publication Sinar Harian, the incident occurred at the East-West Highway at around 2am and involved a lorry transporting chickens.
Director of the Perak Wildlife Protection and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) Yusoff Shariff was informed of the incident at around 3.30am.
He mentioned that, according to investigations, "a male elephant estimated to be five years old died after it was believed to have been hit by a lorry while trying to cross the road".
Yusoff noted that the mother elephant is estimated to be between 25 and 27 years old, weighing roughly 2.2 tonnes.
He added: "Our staff were deployed to the location to carry out an operation to monitor and capture the mother elephant in order to move her to a safer area."
The carcass of the dead baby elephant has since been removed from under lorry and will be buried.
According to Malaysian publication The Star, Gerik districk police chief, Superintendent Zulkifli Mahmood, said initial investigations mentioned that a 28-year-old driver noticed a "large elephant grazing on the right shoulder of the road".
In a statement released on May 11, he added: "Believing it was safe to proceed, the driver continued driving. However, moments later, a baby elephant suddenly emerged from the forest on the left side of the road and attempted to cross.
"The short distance made it impossible for the driver to stop in time, resulting in a fatal collision. The baby elephant died at the scene."
According to Superintendent Zulkifli, a larger elephant believed to be the mother of the dead calf then got agitated and damaged the vehicle.
The driver was unharmed from the incident.
In the aftermath of the accident, netizens expressed heartache over the anguish the mother elephant must have felt.
A Facebook user noted how "anxious" the mother elephant was as she waited for her child, adding that it looked "worried about her child's condition".
Another user wrote: "Why was the driver going so fast? He can't have known that the area is frequented by elephants?"
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