The elephant seems to have recognized “his” veterinarian, after 12 years of never meeting a human,
A very special bond exists between man and animal. If a human takes care for an animal, you can be sure that the animal in will be grateful for life. It seems that the Thai veterinarian, Dr. Pattarapol Maneeon, experienced living proof of this during a lucky meeting with an elephant that he had had the chance to treat 12 years earlier. The elephant called Plai Thang seems to have in turn recognized the man who had saved his life. A really moving meeting, of which we can show you some really intense photos!
Plai Thang is a 31-year-old elephant. 12 years prior to this extraordinary event, staff from the Department of National Parks rescued him from death. Back in 2009, the poor animal were living in very bad conditions in the woods of Rayong, in eastern Thailand. The elephant suffered from a potentially fatal infectious disease, from which, however, Dr. Pattarapol managed to save it. The elephant also suffered from other diseases. And when it arrived in the territory of the Forest Industry Organization it proved to be quite aggressive. At the same time, however, the baby elephant also showed great intelligence: he knew that those humans were only trying to cure him.
Doctor Pattarapol managed with great determination and patience to completely cure Plai Thang, who later continued to live in his natural habitat. Now, after 12 years of never meeting a human, the baby elephant seems to have recognized “his” veterinarian.
Doctor Pattarapol was patrolling the wooded area when, all of a sudden, he recognized the characteristic trumpeting of the elephant he met 12 years ago: he was sure it was Plai Thang! When the two came face to face, the baby elephant appears to have recognized him. As a sign of friendship and gratitude, Plai Thang stretched out his trunk in the direction of the man and the latter reached out to touch the animal.
“I remember his sound clearly,” commented Dr. Pattarapol, “Plai Thang’s trumpet is so unique. When we first met him he was very aggressive. His body was weak and he couldn’t keep up with the other elephants. For him, it took a long time to heal, but we found that he was very intelligent: he wanted to heal. Now, we have met again. We remembered each other and said goodbye. It was a very special moment” said the doctor.
