African elephant calf with large ears and a trunk partially submerged in a natural river setting during late afternoon. 0:54
elephantnews channel icon elephantnewsOriginal creator 24M views Save

To a baby elephant, a floating man needs saving

Darrick Thomson is floating down a fast river, calling out to a baby elephant on the bank. He's perfectly fine. She's sure he is in trouble. more

Her name is Kham Lha, and home is Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where rescued elephants live out their lives, most of them old or disabled. She's one of the young ones. She's down by the water with the others, and one of them has ducked all the way under.

Elephants stand at the water's edge, one ducked head-first under the water, while others walk on a grassy bank beside trees. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
The elephants are down by the water, and the river is running fast.

Darrick is one of the people who started the park, and he's one of her favorite people anywhere. The current is carrying him off quickly. To Kham Lha, his calls sound like cries for help.

She goes straight into the river after him. She is only a baby, and the water is moving fast. She charges through it anyway until her trunk can reach him.

A person in a red shirt is partly under water beside a large elephant near a green riverbank. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Kham Lha reaches Darrick in the water and starts steering him back toward the bank.

Then she pulls him in close, right under her, between her front legs, and brings him back to the shore. He doesn't argue.

African elephant calf with large ears and a trunk partially submerged in a natural river setting during late afternoon. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Darrick Thomson is floating down a fast river, calling out to a baby elephant on the bank.

Park staff say it was Darrick who rescued Kham Lha in the first place, and he took the time to help her heal. Not long after, she took him into her herd. He didn't need saving in that river. She came for him anyway.

#elephants#animalrescue