Daijiworld Media Network - Chennai (SD)

Chennai, Apr 14: Nearly two years ago, a photo of a man carrying a baby elephant to reunite it with its mother had gone viral. The photo has resurfaced on social media and winning hearts once again after Indian Forest Services officer Dipika Bajpai tweeted the flashback photo of Palanichamy Sarathkumar who is seen carrying a baby elephant on his shoulder. Many applauded and thanked the forest guard for the work.

On December 12, 2017, Sarathkumar received a phone call about a female elephant that had blocked the road. Sarathkumar was then a part of a forest team near Mettupalyam near Tamil Nadu. Soon after the call he rushed to the spot with some of his colleagues and drove the elephant away with the help of firecrackers. Meanwhile, they searched for more elephants in the surrounding when they spotted the baby elephant trapped in a ditch, sources reported.

"We saw the calf stuck inside a small ditch. It was tired and confused so we moved a big boulder that was blocking its way and brought it out," Sarathkumar said.

But the baby elephant was found to be too weak and the mother nowhere in sight.

He further said, "Initially four of us carried the calf. We wanted to take it to the other side of the road to reunite it with its mother. But there was a danger of being attacked as she was still nearby."

So the guards decided that it would be safer for Sarathkumar to carry the baby elephant alone. He carried the baby elephant weighing about a quintal for about 50 metres on his shoulder and left it near a watering hole. The calf was then reunited with its mother.

The tweet posted by Bajpai received tons of praises for Sarathkumar for his wonderful deed.