Forest Guide Carries 200lb Baby Elephant To Save Its Life
A forest ranger in Tamil Nadu turned a routine rescue into a viral moment when he carried a trapped baby elephant to safety. The calf had fallen into a ditch, and the quick response from Palanichamy Sarathkumar and his colleagues helped reunite it with its mother.
The photos and video spread fast because the scene was so simple and so striking, a 28-year-old ranger lifting a 200lb elephant calf onto his shoulder and walking it back to the woods. It was the kind of rescue that reminded people how much difference one calm decision can make.
And once you see the images, it is hard not to understand why the story took off so quickly.
In this photo shared by the India Forest Service, you can see 28-year-old hero Palanichamy Sarathkumar carrying the 200lb baby elephant that weighs more than he does!
While heading home after working the night shift, Palanichamy received a distress call about an elephant blocking the road. He rushed to the scene along with his colleagues, and they managed to return the elephant to the woods when the ranger realized that something was wrong.
He knew something was amiss with the elephant, and that's when he noticed a baby elephant helplessly stuck in a ditch. He realized that the elephant on the road was probably the baby's mother. In the heat of the moment, Palanichamy lifted the 200lb baby elephant onto his shoulder and carried it back to its mother.
The video of his heroism went viral, and everyone in his community called him a hero for what he did.
A rescue like this does not happen every day.
Here we can see the group of rangers who answered the distress call.
Carrying that baby elephant like it's a sack of potatoes!
That is one very determined ranger.
The story has a happy ending as the calf was later reunited with its mother.
Check out the video of this ranger's heroism!
It's news like this that makes you feel better about the world, and we can only hope that there are more people like this out there who are ready to do whatever they can to help a poor animal. We should all strive to be as selfless as this forest guard because it's really the least we can do for Mother Nature.
And the sooner we start doing it, the better.
A good deed, and a very strong back.
Want another shoulder-to-shoulder rescue? See how a forest guard carried a 100-kilogram baby elephant.
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