We have seen many different situations in which people go to extremes to save their pets or other animals that are threa.tened by something else. The story we are going to tell is about a 100-pounder elephant and a man carrying an elephant.
People who help such animals think not of their own personal gains but of that particular animal’s life. We’ve all seen the viral video of the man who saved a calf from a flood in India.
The story behind the man who carried an elephant, Palanichamy Sarathkumar, is currently working as a forest guard and is stationed near Mettupalayam. Mettupalayam is a small forested city 32 miles (50 km) from the beautiful hill station Ooty.
On December 12, 2017, and Palanichamy, the man carrying an elephant, was returning home from a night shift at his headquarters when he received a call about a small in.cident near the Vanabhadra Kaliamman temple. The caller informed him that a female elephant went rogue and was blocking the road close to the Vanabhadra Kaliamman temple. He went there as soon as he could with his colleagues.
They set off a few fire.crac.kers to guide the elephant back into the forest. After the females left, they continue to look for other elephants nearby.
They saw a baby elephant stuck inside a small ditch. The little elephant was confused and tired when the ditch made him feel suf.focated. Palanichamy and his colleagues pulled a rock out of a ditch because it was blocking the elephant’s exit.
Mr. Sarathkumar realized that the female elephant near the road was its mother and was very upset when she was nowhere to be found. The calf was too weak to walk, so the task became doubly difficult for the forest guard.
After removing the rock, Palanichamy and his 3 friends carried the baby out. They wanted to carry it to the other side so that the mother could find her child. They had to think about it for a while when they realized that the mother elephant is very protective and can at.tack if it was threa.tened. It was then, that Palanichamy decided to become the person carrying an elephant on his back, by himself. He chose to ris.k his own life instead of ris.king four.
Palanichamy, 6 feet tall and weighing 176 pounds (80kg), carried the 100kg elephant on his shoulders and carried it for 50 odd meters. He placed the baby near a waterhole and hoped that the mother would return and locate her child.
They waited for hours but the mother did not come. They all went back after a while and hoped that the mother will come back.
They all returned, the next morning, and found the calf missing. The calf left its mark next to the larger pugmarks of a bigger elephant. Palanichamy believes they left before dawn after being reunited.
Various tweets were seen comparing Palanichamy to “Bahubali”. They praised him for his bravery and commitment and praised him as a man carrying an elephant.
Elephants are quite intelligent, social, and also highly evolved compared to other large animals. They like to stay in herds but can get lost if their babies get lost or stuck somewhere.
Tamil Nadu has been the witness of many conflicts between humans and elephants, which led Palanichamy Sarathkumar to this profession. He worked in Anti-Poaching and was employed by the forest department for his services. Palanichamy will always be remembered as ‘The man who carried an elephant’!
