This year, a woman from West Virginia had the experience of a lifetime when she visited the Patara Elephant Farm in Thailand.
Located in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the Patara Elephant Farm (PEF) is the nation’s only elephant breeding program, focused on health recovery and conservation.
Asian elephants were declared an endangered species back in 1986 after the IUCN Red List reported a population decline of at least 50% over the last three generations. With the philosophy “Extinction is Forever”, PEF is dedicated to saving the Asian elephants through breeding and educational programs.
Back in March of this year, West Virginia resident Hannah Frenchik visited PEF while she was vacationing in Thailand. During her visit, she shared an incredible moment with one of the farm’s elephant calves.
In the video, you see Hannah sitting in the mud beside a man and a baby elephant.
The baby’s examining the man, clad in a blue rain cover, who’s sitting beside Hannah. As the baby checks him out, Hannah gets the animal’s attention when she reaches over to give it a pat. “Hi,” she coos, raising her hand to tap its giant head. But if the elephant’s reaction is any indication, it’s definitely not enough.
Turning towards Hannah, the calf dashes in her direction, bowling her over for some snuggles and love.
The giant creature nuzzles her with its head, trying to sit in her lap. It acts like a little puppy as it hops around, lounging over her body, just begging to be petted and squeezed.
At one point, the man beside her hops up and pushes the elephant over to make sure it’s not squishing an overjoyed Hannah underneath.
Hannah squeals enthusiastically, completely blown away by the once-in-a-lifetime encounter.
She’s covered in dirt but doesn’t mind at all. She knows the mess is definitely worth the experience. Afterward, she said:
“It was the most magical and happiest moment of my life. It was truly life-changing for me.”
Elephants are the largest land animals on Earth, reports LiveScience, with the Asian species being slightly smaller than the African ones. Females are pregnant for nearly two years before giving birth to a calf, who weigh 200 pounds and stand 3 feet tall on average.
For the first year of life, babies will gain two to three pounds every single day. They’ll nurse from their mother until they’re two to three years old, eventually being able to breed by the time they hit adolescence.
Since being uploaded to YouTube, Hannah’s heartwarming encounter has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
It’s such an amazing experience, I’m a bit jealous— I can’t even lie. Comments on the upload read:
“When you want to cuddle but you don’t realize you weigh 300 pounds.”
“Baby elephant who thinks he’s a puppy. Love this.”
“Waaaaay too cute! Thank you for sharing this. This video totally made my day.”
Watch the heartwarming moment below!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
