Wild animals aren’t always the friendliest to us humans. If they’re only used to hanging out with their kind, they simply don’t know whether they can trust any of our kind, even when we’re just trying to look after them.

But one surprising mammal that can develop an incredible bond with humans is the elephant.

Generally, elephants are wild animals that don’t hang out in the sorts of urban locations that you might find people.

But when situations arise where human intervention is necessary, elephants can really warm to their rescuers, and those that show them a bit of love and affection.

There are hundreds of examples of the elephant-human bond, but this YouTube video is one of our favourites. It features a two-month-old baby elephant called Tara, and a man named Arthur.

Arthur and his friend Vivian visited Tara, and many other elephants, at the Patara Elephant Farm. The farm has an adorable option to play the role of an elephant owner for the day, where you’re taught by the experts how to feed, groom, wash and look after their elephants.

According to Arthur and Vivian, the Patara Elephant Farm doesn’t exploit their elephants for tourism purposes. Vivian said:

“Unlike other elephant parks in Chiang Mai, the staff and owners at Patara focus solely on the healthcare and the breeding management for these endangered species and aid the recovery process for elephants injured by mine bombs – tourists come second.”

At the farm, the elephants are cared for and looked after in a safe environment, where they’re free to roam within the security of the sanctuary’s walls, away from any outside dangers.

During their “elephant owner for the day” experience, Arthur and Vivian got stuck into the day-to-day tasks that are involved with looking after a herd of ginormous mammals. They washed the elephants in the river, fed them their meals, and even examined elephant stools.

The elephants felt safe and protected in their environment, and enjoyed the attention they received from Arthur, Vivian and the other tourists. At the end of the day, Arthur stopped to interact with one of the baby elephants, Tara – and that’s when Vivian captured the absolutely adorable video of their human-to-elephant hug.

The moment Arthur called her name, little Tara lumbered over and buried her head in his chest. Arthur, who was crouched on the floor, opened his arms to give her a big hug.

And then things got slightly crazy as Tara knocked Arthur to his back in her earnest to show him some affection! The poor baby probably doesn’t realize that Arthur’s leg strength is no match for hers.

Luckily, Arthur took it in his stride and grinned away while onlookers giggled and Tara attempted to get comfortable on his knee.

At one point, she even wrapped her trunk around his face, and a farm helper quickly stepped in to intervene – her heavy foot had got a little too close to his head!

Eventually, Arthur reluctantly stood up and gave Tara a final pat on the back. He looked as if he wished he could take this playful baby home with him, but that would soon become a problem when Tara grew to full size!

We’re immensely grateful for elephant farms and sanctuaries like the Patara Elephant Farm, not only for allowing us to interact with such a curious, friendly species, but also for helping these beautiful mammals to breed and enjoy life away from danger.

Prepare to have a giggle at Tara’s antics in the video below.

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Source: Animal Channel, YouTube, Patara, National Geographic