Photo: Matador Network/TikTok

Watch: This Adorable Baby Elephant Playing With Tourists Is the Cutest Thing You'll See Today

Thailand Wildlife
by Matador Creators Jun 22, 2022

When visiting an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, you can expect to get up close and personal with the animals. Playing with a baby elephant, however, is one of those above and beyond experiences.

@matadornetwork This #babyelephant at #ChaiLaiOrchid in #Thailand really wanted to play 🐘 🎥 @megan.milan #elephanttok #traveltiktok #iloveelephants ♬ original sound – sped up songs ❤️‍🩹

Travel influencer Megan Milan was at the Chiang Mai elephant sanctuary at Chai Lai Orchid and made a close connection with one of the baby elephants. In a video Milan posted on TikTok and Twitter, Milan is seen being chased and bumped by the little elephant until another comes and pushes him away.

“Not his big sister having to come get him off of me,” Milan wrote on TikTok.

She later added on Twitter that the elephant was three weeks old, and that “elephants don’t just go around hurting people. They are one of the only animals with empathy.”

The Chai Lai Orchid where Milan got to interact with the elephants is part home for rescued animals and part eco-lodge. The rescued Asian elephants come from abusive companies that used the animals for tourism and work, and Chai Lai Orchid keeps babies and mothers together in a natural environment. In addition to fighting elephant exploitation, the company fights human trafficking by employing at-risk and marginalized Indigenous women, as well as donating 100 percent of proceeds to Daughters Rising.

It’s location at the foothills of the Himalayas makes it a beautiful place to help both elephants and people. Waterfalls, elephant swims, jungle temples, and cultural heritage tours can also all be experienced on the property. If you go, you might even get to romp around with a baby elephant like Milan.

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