Baby Elephant Too Short to Drink From Mom Given Stool: 'Precious'

A baby elephant too short to drink milk from its mom is melting hearts online, after being lifted onto a stool by zookeepers.

In the cute clip shared to TikTok by @yexianggu, a newborn Asian elephant is led toward a soft stool by a zoo keeper. Still unable to quite reach its mother's teat, the zoo keeper hoists the little guy onto the platform and guides its head in the right direction.

The elephant finally manages to latch onto its mother and starts drinking, while the team around her smiles.

"The baby elephant is not tall enough when it is born, and it has to step on the stool to drink milk," the poster wrote alongside the adorable footage, which has received 6.7 million views.

The video was filmed at Thailand's Khao Kheow Open Zoo. Focusing on conservation, the zoo covers 2,000 acres and cares for over 8,000 animals across 300 species—including elephants.

Although Asian elephants are smaller than their African cousins, an average newborn is three feet tall and can weigh between 200 and 250 pounds. For the first four months of their lives, baby elephants live primarily on their mother's milk, drinking two to three gallons a day.

As their trunks are still too short, newborns nurse with their mouths. Between four and six months of age, trunk development begins and babies start to experiment with picking up grasses and leaves, adding vegetation to their diet.

Baby elephants continue to nurse from their mothers for around four to six years and rely on their moms until about age 16, but other female members of the herd often step in to help care for the young ones as they grow. The largest of all land animals, elephants are not fully grown until they're 20 years old. They can live until their 70s.

Animals lovers were obsessed with the baby elephant, with the video being liked more than 200,000 times.

"Oh my goodness that's too cute," commented Toni.

"What a precious sight," agreed barbaraolivier72.

"Sweet baby," said BigRev1.

"So adorable," wrote karla oficial.

"Awwww the feeding sound cutest thing ever," said Khema.

"Omg the wee darling 🥰.." commented Ange Williams. "So thankful our worlds elephants have you to look after them."

Newsweek reached out to @yexianggu for comment via TikTok.

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