Hugs From A Baby Elephant? Don't Mind If We Do

Jul 05, 2020

A video posted by Newsflare in October 2019 captured during an elephant trekking tour to Patara elephant farm in Chiang Mai, Thailand shows a two-month-old baby elephant playing with a tour group. The baby elephant is seen lying down on the visitors, oblivious to its big size.

In Chiang Mai, Thailand, tourists have the option of getting up close and personal with several elephants as part of the tourist experience. These elephants are well cared for, living in monitored enclosures in their natural habitats. Mother elephants and their children, however, are enclosed and monitored to ensure their overall health. The guests at this elephant rescue get to take part in cuddling sessions with the baby elephants held here.

No one expected that one particular two-month-old baby elephant would take things to the next level, however. This little guy—who, according to handlers, weighs almost 400 pounds—acts as though he is a kitten, diving into the laps of tourists and rolling, wanting all the love he can soak up.

Elephants are known for being relatively receptive to humans when in captivity. Few, however, are as loving, affectionate, and downright demanding as this young elephant is. When with their handlers and tourists, they often are good at socializing and may even appreciate the presence of people. Animal scientists believe that this is due, in part, to the social structure elephants have in the wild. When they do not see humans as a potential threat, they can become very trusting.

This baby elephant, however, trusts everyone. Not only does he trust everyone, however — he wants everyone to give him attention. Much like how young cats will lay in your lap, rolling over and demanding you give them pets and attention, this elephant is insistent. Thankfully for the tourists, he's small enough that he doesn't pose much risk of injury, but this little guy simply can't get enough of everyone's attention.

You can tell he enjoys itas soon as someone sits on the ground, he's standing over them, lowering himself into their lap and laying on top of them. Despite being heavy, however, the tourists seem to love it — not that we can blame them. The expression this baby elephant has can only be described as bliss. In several cases, the handlers have to gently nudge the baby away from a guest.

Otherwise, we imagine he would stay in their laps all day long. If you find it hard to believe that this baby elephant really enjoys the presence of humans, we can give you an undeniable proof. Toward the end of the tour, when everyone had their chance to cuddle the baby, something interesting happened.

The tourists were having conversations with the handlers, learning about the creatures and spending some time with one of the adult elephants. The baby seemed to be distracted elsewhere at this point. Just when we least expected it, however, you can see that the baby elephant suddenly gets very excited and charges. In an adult elephant, a charge like that could be somewhat scary and be an attempt to protect themselves from a threat.

However, this baby elephant wasn't charging to attack. Quite the contrary, the baby charged, knocking over one of the guests at the park and laying in their lap. He even went as far as to snuggle against her hands, asking for more pets. By the looks of the handlers, this was not what they expected. They were obviously surprised that the baby had charged, all to get more attention.

Let us know if you want baby elephant cuddles in the comments and be sure to show this adorable giant baby to your loved ones.