KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 (Bernama) -- Over a day has passed, yet the haunting image of a mother elephant refusing to leave her calf, killed by a lorry on the East-West Highway in Gerik-Jeli early yesterday, continues to move Malaysians to the core.
The tragic incident, which unfolded on Mother’s Day, served as a powerful reminder that maternal instinct and unconditional love are not unique to humans but are also deeply present in animals.
In a live Facebook broadcast this morning, a user identified as Mohd Amir Faizal recounted the painful scene.
He said he was conducting a routine safety patrol along the highway when he heard the cries of the grieving mother.
"You can see damage at the front of the lorry. But that damage came from the mother elephant repeatedly pushing it, trying to pull her baby out.
“She kept trying to free her calf over and over again, because it was still alive at that time. But she just couldn't move the lorry, it was too heavy.
“That’s the kind of love only a mother can show. She did everything she could for her child,” he said during the 45-minute livestream.
Meanwhile, Facebook user Amirul Abraham wrote: “Elephants are no ordinary animals. They carry memory, emotion, and above all, love. If we humans are willing to risk our lives for our children, how could a creature that knows nothing of hatred do any less? That mother elephant didn’t wait there because she didn’t know her calf was gone”.
“This is the deeper meaning of Mother’s Day today. Animals are also Allah’s creatures, just as deserving of love and compassion as we are. I hope the authorities will do something for that grieving mother elephant,” commented Rohirrim on X.
Another user, Apip Amran, added: “On this Mother’s Day, a mother elephant in Gerik lost her baby, killed by a lorry. There could be no sadder gift—only prayers that her little one now rests in a better place. A loss that tears at the soul on a day meant to be full of love”.
Yesterday, a viral video captured the heart-wrenching moment of a mother elephant desperately trying to push a lorry after her calf, believed to be around five years old, was fatally struck by the vehicle.
Gerik police chief Supt Zulkifli Mahmood confirmed in a statement yesterday that the incident occurred at 2.50 am at KM80 of the East-West Highway in Gerik-Jeli.
Mohd Amir, who is a highway patrol volunteer, said that after the elephant was sedated by the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan), it had to be restrained with chains.
“I could feel the mother elephant’s sorrow when I helped cover her eyes with a cloth to prevent her from seeing what we were doing.
“She was reluctant to leave the spot. Then, as she was being led away, she managed to look back at the scene from several hundred metres away.
"In that moment, I couldn’t hold back. I broke down in tears, completely overwhelmed," said Mohd Amir.
He also revealed that earlier, the mother elephant appeared to be crying as she desperately tried to free her calf from beneath the truck—a moment so emotional that he could not bring himself to share the video.
“I could hear the mother crying out in sorrow, and I’m certain anyone who watched it would have been moved to tears,” he said.
“What struck me the most was that despite being sedated to calm her down, the mother pressed her head against the side of the truck, as if mourning the loss of her calf. It was absolutely heart-wrenching,” he recalled.
-- BERNAMA
