Mohd Amir Faizal, a witness at the scene in Perak where a mother elephant lost her calf, shared his heartbreaking experience of what he saw and heard.
He heard the mother elephant crying and wailing when her calf was trapped under the wheels.
“A loud noise was made by the mother elephant as she tried to pull her calf out while the engine was still running.”
“I cried at the scene, too.”
In a Facebook live video last night (May 11), Amir said the elephant summoned all her strength to move the lorry with her head to rescue her calf, but to no avail. Amir said the calf was still alive when it was stuck under the tires, prompting its mother to rescue it. The mother elephant eventually stopped trying, but it did not leave the scene.
It stood there for more than 5 hours before officials had to use tranquillisers on the mammal before relocating it.
“They had to do it to clear the danger on the road.”
The lorry was carrying chickens, and the 28-year-old driver did not have enough time to stop when the calf emerged on the road. Amir responded to the viewers’ suspicion about the lorry driver’s driving, saying that he believed the driver was NOT speeding during the incident.
“If the driver was speeding, the calf would have been thrown further. The lorry would have also fallen into the gorge. When I reached the scene, there was a thick fog which reduced the visibility on the road.”
Amir also urged other drivers to NOT take pictures of the mammal if they happen to encounter elephants on the road. Amir also said elephants have good memories, and the mother elephant that lost her calf is expected to linger around the area for another week.
“If they were on the roadside, move along. Don’t try to take pictures, they don’t like it.”
“Don’t try to feed them too, or they would stop looking for food on their own in the jungle.”
The mother elephant, however, was spotted returning to the accident scene last night, where her calf died.
You can watch and listen to Amir on his live Facebook video here.
