Be sure to reach the end of this article to see the full video!

The poor elephant in this video had been through so much. Luckily, his new family wasted no time in making him feel welcome.

At the age of one, Dok Geaw’s entire elephant family was hunted down and killed. The baby was only spared because he didn’t yet have any tusks.

After this terrible incident, the baby was left alone in the jungle, struggling to find food and water.

But then some kind-hearted humans found him.

They reported his whereabouts to Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary in Northern Thailand.

The rescuers found Dok Geaw and loaded him into a truck.

He was terrified throughout this event. The elephant’s only other interaction with humanity had resulted in his entire family being slaughtered.

And now these people were forcing him into a small space. He had no way of knowing that in actuality, he was safe from harm.

But the amazing thing about elephants is that they’re incredibly empathetic animals.

When Dok Geaw arrived at the sanctuary, the other elephants could all sympathize with the poor baby. They had all been in a similar situation at one time.

So when the baby was put into a pen, all of the elephants who had become part of the herd decided to greet him in their own way.

The elephants started running toward the new arrival, letting out huge wails as they were doing so. They wanted everyone in the vicinity to know that there was someone new who needed looking after.

They all reached the baby’s pen and started sticking their trunks through the barriers.

Then the animals all started petting Dok Geaw, reassuring him that this was a friendly, safe place for him.

Dok Geaw’s face visibly got much happier when the elephants started reassuring him like this. He even stuck his trunk through the bars to say hi to all the animals who were greeting him.

It would still be a hard time for Dok Geaw. The little elephant would always miss his original family.

But thanks to the other elephants in this sanctuary, he would have comfort and happiness again.

Over the coming weeks and months, Dok Geaw integrated seamlessly into the sanctuary’s herd.

He now considers all of the other elephants there to be his family members. And whenever a new arrival comes to the sanctuary, he also enthusiastically runs up to and greets them.

Eventually, Dok Geaw will be ready for reintegration to the wild.

The sanctuary will place him in an area that is safe from poachers and where they can always keep an eye on him. When he’s free, he will be able to raise his own family without the worry of being hunted down. If only his first year of life had been this secure!

The sanctuary was filming the heartwarming moment when the elephants ran up to and welcomed Dok Geaw.

The video was later uploaded to YouTube, where it has since managed to gain over 8.5 million views. It also has more than 82,000 likes and 6,500 comments.

People have been saying things like this:

The elephants in this video are all so relatable. Everyone has been a new arrival somewhere at some point and needed others to make them feel welcomed.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: elephantnews