Elephant reunites with its mother, we cry a million tears

The saying “an elephant never forgets” exists because elephants NEVER forget, you guys. A young elephant was reunited with her mother in Northern Thailand after three to four years of separation, and we can’t stop feeling our feelings about it. Baby elephant Me-Bai was sadly sold away from her mother to give rides to tourists when she was only a few years old, but because she was too young and was losing weight, she couldn’t do her job anymore. So she was sent to the Elephant Nature Park, a nonprofit elephant sanctuary in northern Thailand. Soon after her arrival, caretakers at the sanctuary discovered that Me-Bai’s mother, Mae Yui was working close by in the tourist industry. They reached out to her owners to see if they’d allow the 30-something-year-old momma elephant to retire. After being introduced to the sanctuary’s Pamper a Pachyderm program, the owners thankfully agreed, and Mae Yui was brought to the sanctuary to be reunited with her baby. Part of the reunion was captured on video, and it’s filled with so much passion and love. One woman who witnessed the reunion in person said it took the two elephants a few minutes to realize they had a connection, but once they recognized each other, the connection was immediately there. It’s clear that momma and baby never forgot each other. The sanctuary wrote on their YouTube page, “Now, Mae Yui’s owners and Elephant Nature Park are working together to rehabilitate Mae Yui and Me-Bai so that they can return to the wild and live free.” We love elephants and are always so happy to hear about happy stories, but it’s still important to remember that so many elephants aren’t as fortunate.

[Featured image via YouTube]