It’s World Elephant Day, and what better way to celebrate than by looking back at some of the cutest and most heartwarming elephant videos to ever hit the Internet? The list below reminds us of how amazing these creatures are — and how insanely adorable they are when they’re little.

Baby Elephant Plays With Birds

We’re kicking things off with a new viral video starring a charming elephant calf trying to chase away low-flying swallows in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. You’ve got this, girl!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIy5aiRdtrc

Mom Rescues Baby Elephant

Baby elephant antics may make you smile — but it’s their sweet bonds with their families that melt your heart. In this video from 2013, a herd at Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa comes rushing to help when a calf tumbles into a mud pit. Everyone lends a trunk, but Mom is the one to pull her babe to safety.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNn57g5lrZE&feature=player_embedded#t=0

Elephant Herd’s Sweet Moment Captured

Another gem from Addo Elephant National Park in 2013 captured a tender moment involving a happy pachyderm group. In the video, a calf takes off running toward one adult, and then two adults share their own affectionate greeting. Before it’s over, another youngster trots over to get in on the act, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_P3Zu4AEO98

Rescued Elephant Reunites With Mom

We’ve all heard about elephants’ incredible memories. Now, we have a couple videos that show them off. The first is of a touching reunion at Thailand’s Elephant Nature Park. MeBai was just 3 years old when she was separated from her mother and sold to an elephant-riding service. But because she was too young, she wasn’t strong enough to do the work, so she was retired and is being rehabilitated at the sanctuary. A nearby trekking service also agreed to retire MeBai’s mom, Mae Yui, and the duo’s loving reunion was caught on video.  
https://youtube.com/watch?v=vbRpcCRnoZA

Keepers Visit Ex-Orphan Elephant

They also seem to remember humans who’ve helped them. Earlier this year, wildlife filmmakers working in Kenya suspected the wild elephant lapping up their fresh shower water may have been an orphan who’d been cared for by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. They asked two longtime keepers from the trust to visit and identify him. The delighted keepers confirmed the elephant was Ndume, who was rescued at 3 months old in 1989. When he heard his keepers’ voices, Ndume, now 26, “approached the vehicle in which the keepers were sitting with a low welcoming rumble,” the trust said. But the reaction from the keepers is the best part of this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnq0fcuKJD0

Wait for Me!

We can’t help ourselves, so we’re ending this list with just one more darling baby elephant. In this 2012 video, two adult elephants lumber across a park road in Tanzania, followed by a baby racing to catch up with them!
https://youtu.be/98GzaPrwrfY Did we miss any of your favorite elephant videos? Share them in the comments below.

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