Many still believe that animals have no feelings or emotions – something that an innocent baby Elephant seems to have disproved after being rejected by it’s mother right after it was born at Shendiaoshan Wild Animal Natural Reserve Area, in Rongcheng, Shandong province, China. Not only was it rejected, but the mother then tried to stampede her child in order to kill it. This all led to what seemed eerily similar of a human having a breakdown, as the baby calf cried for over five hours after the horrific event. It is not known why the mother elephant rejected the calf.
According to The Daily Mail:
Horrified zookeepers were forced to intervene after a female elephant attempted to stamp her calf to death shortly after he was born.
The female elephant had stepped on baby Zhuangzhuang almost immediately after giving birth at a Chinese zoo on August 30.
But vets initially thought it was an accident. They removed the calf to treat his injuries and returned him to his mother two hours later – but she started to stamp on him again.
Keepers drove her off and took the little elephant away.
The rejected calf then reportedly cried for five hours as staff at the Shendiaoshan Wild Animal Natural Reserve Area, in Rongcheng, Shandong province, tried to comfort him.
He is now making good progress and has been adopted by a keeper.
‘The calf was very upset and he was crying for five hours before he could be consoled’, a spokesman said.
‘He couldn’t bear to be parted from his mother and it was his mother who was trying to kill him.
‘They have made a good bond. We don’t know why the mother turned on her calf but we couldn’t take a chance.’
What do you think? Could this be a result of the elephant mother living in captivity, or is it just part of mother nature’s circle of life? Let us know below!
