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What happens when this 7-year-old elephant reunites with its mom? Love wins.

National Geographic, Nonhuman Rights Group, zoo, tourism
Image pulled from YouTube video.

The elephant MeBai travels to reunite with her mom.

7-year-old elephant Me­Bai hadn't seen her mother in over three years.

But that didn't matter when they were finally reunited. Their bond was immediately visible to everyone watching — and mesmerizing to the millions who tuned in after their video hit the web.


Why? Maybe it was the overwhelming cuteness of it all. Maybe it was the incredible story. Or maybe it was the quiet beauty of a creature whose instincts to mother, love, and nurture know no bounds.

But behind the video — before the joyous squeals and the affectionate intertwining of trunks — is a dark and ugly backstory.

Me­Bai was rescued from her life as a slave to the Thai tourist industry, where she was forced to carry tourists for hours at a time.

elephants, conservation, PEDA, Thai tourist industry

Tourist ride the backs of elephants through the jungle.

Image via Pixabay.

There are thousands of others just like her that haven't yet been saved.

Elephants like MeBai are taken from their mothers at an early age and forced to march with heavy tourists strapped to their backs long before their bodies are strong enough to handle the rigors of such a job.

For years and years, they're bull­hooked. They're over­worked. They're underfed.

And worst of all? They might be the lucky ones.

In other parts of the world — parts much closer to home than Thailand — elephants are subject to entirely different kinds of torture.

circus animals, elephant mistreatment, animal rights activist

An elephant performs for the crowd at a circus.

Photo via Pixabay.

We think of zoos as conservationist habitats — safe harbors for the hunted and the threatened. But the truth is, many elephants in zoos around the world are kept isolated and alone for years at a time.

It's enough to drive anyone insane.

Elephants are famously mistreated and abused in some of the world's biggest circuses (though it's worth noting that Ringling Bros. phased out elephants in 2017).

The common factor, no matter where these elephants end up, is that if you want to make 6,000­-pound wild animals do your bidding, you first have to snuff out their spirit. You have to break them emotionally, which can cause these gentle creatures to suffer from severe PTSD and depression.

Is the problem too big to overcome? Thanks to organizations like the Elephant Nature Park in Northern Thailand, the answer is a resounding "No."

Spend enough time reading articles or watching graphic videos, and you just might start to feel like the elephants: Hopeless. Overwhelmed. Powerless.

But places like the Elephant Nature Park are doing amazing work, fighting to rescue these majestic animals. And it's helping.

Here's the proof: Kham Paam, a battered but rehabilitated elephant, became a loving nanny to a young member of her new herd at the Elephant Nature Park.

Then there's Seree, another tourist-industry rescue, who joined a brand-new family back in November after escaping a life of hard labor.

And, of course, there's MeBai, seen here with her mother. Reunited at last.

animal rights, elephants of Thailand, philanthropic pursuits

MeBai and her mother are reunited.

Image pulled from YouTube video.

While elephants like MeBai may never be able to return to the wild, they've been able to find happiness in their new homes.

Because of their unending capacity for love and compassion, somehow they're able to put these atrocities behind them and start again.

This video of Me­Bai reuniting with her mother is, in many ways, proof that love really does conquer all — and that the elephants won't go down without a fight.

As long as some of us are willing to fight along with them. Watch the video on the MeBai story below:

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A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

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“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

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via YouTube

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