Mother’s Day heartbreak for Malaysian elephant mourning calf in viral video

Distressing footage shows the mother desperately trying to move the lorry that crushed her baby on a Malaysian highway

A heartbreaking video of a mother elephant desperately trying to push a lorry off her dying calf, struck while crossing a highway in northern Malaysia, has gripped the country’s internet, provoking both grief and outrage.

The tragedy, which unfolded early on Sunday morning on the East-West Highway, shows the mother elephant frantically circling a lorry loaded with chickens in a futile attempt to free her calf, which lay pinned beneath the vehicle.

The distressed elephant refused to leave her calf’s side from before dawn until after sunrise, despite efforts by bystanders to shoo her away. Wildlife department officials eventually tranquillised her to clear the highway, one of the main arteries connecting the east and west coasts of Peninsular Malaysia.

Malaysians and neighbouring Indonesians took to social media to express their grief, with many highlighting the poignancy of the tragedy occurring on Mother’s Day.

“On Mother’s Day, an elephant showed us what is a mother’s love,” wrote Mario Teega.

Others said they were too heartbroken to watch the circulating videos.

“I have been so affected by the news about this elephant today, I have been crying non-stop every time I see it,” said one.

In one widely shared video, the mother’s plaintive cries can be heard as she encircles the lorry. Meanwhile, a poignant cartoon depicting the baby elephant growing wings and bidding farewell to its mother has been viewed more than 700,000 times, drawing further sorrow and reflection online.

The East-West Highway, which cuts through the 30,000-hectare (74,000-acre) Belum-Temenggor forest reserve in Perak, has become a hotspot for collisions and close encounters with wildlife as human settlements and plantations encroach on animal habitats. The rainforest, which stretches into southern Thailand and is believed to be 130 million years old, is home to rare and endangered species such as the Malayan tiger and Malayan sun bear.

Conservationists have long called for more wildlife crossings along the highway, citing in particular the predictable routes that elephants use to traverse their shrinking habitat.

Between 2023 and 2024, six Malayan tigers were killed by vehicles while crossing roads, a devastating statistic given that only around 150 individuals remain in the wild. Natural Resources and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, speaking in November, described the deaths as “a tragedy for wildlife conservation efforts”.

The most recent tiger fatality occurred on November 9, also on the East-West Highway, the same road where the elephant calf was killed on Sunday.

The tragedy comes amid growing concerns for Malaysia’s wildlife. In April, authorities discovered two headless carcasses of endangered pygmy elephants in the forests of Sabah, raising fresh alarms over a resurgence of ivory poaching.