Zhuang Zhuang was only a few hours old when his own mother trampled him.
It happened at the Shendiaoshan Wildlife Reserve in Rongcheng, China. Veterinarians thought it had been an accident and returned him to her. The mother attacked him again. That was when the staff realized they could not risk it happening again and decided to separate them permanently.
The photos that circulated afterward showed the young elephant with reddened eyes and tears streaming down his face, wrapped in a blanket while a caretaker tried to calm him. A zoo employee said that the calf cried for five straight hours before allowing himself to be comforted.
Meanwhile, his mother stopped eating, as if she too carried the weight of what had happened. Zhuang Zhuang remained under the permanent care of the staff, who stayed with him day and night until he began to recover.
