Nearly 10 years ago, Nguyen Cong Chung, Deputy Director of the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation, Wildlife Rescue, and Forest Protection Management Center, along with his co-workers, rescued a 2-month-old baby elephant that had fallen into a well nearly 5 meters deep.

Surprisingly, after being nursed back to health and released into the forest to reunite with its mother, the baby elephant refused and quickly ran after its rescuers.

Chung recounted that at 10 am on March 28, 2016, his unit received a report from Ea Sup commune (Dak Lak) about a 2-month-old wild baby elephant, weighing about 90 kg, that had fallen into a well on a local farm.

Upon receiving the information, Chung and several officers rushed to the scene and found the baby elephant lying at the bottom of the deep well in a dangerous condition. Chung and five others discussed and devised a plan to descend into the well to rescue the elephant.

After about three hours of effort, Chung and his coworkers safely brought the baby elephant to the surface. Chung then bought infant formula milk, mixed it, and fed it to the elephant. After drinking the milk, the baby elephant gradually recovered and regained strength.

In the following days, staff from the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Center cared for the baby elephant’s health while tracking the wild elephant herd to reunite it with its mother.

Through persistent efforts, Chung’s team located the wild elephant herd and brought the baby elephant close to them, hoping the mother and calf would reunite. Chung and the others then ran away to avoid danger.

However, beyond anyone’s imagination, as the rescuers fled, the baby elephant followed them, refusing to return to its herd and mother.

Chung explained that since the baby elephant kept following them and would not rejoin the herd, the staff of the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Center brought it to their semi-wild area for care and named it Gold. Now 9 years old and weighing over 1 ton, Gold is very intelligent and playful.

“The staff and employees of the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Center are very fond of Gold. Every year on March 28, we celebrate Gold’s birthday. Gold now lives safely in the semi-wild area with other elephants and is cared for meticulously,” Chung shared.

Hai Duong