This is the heartwarming moment a mother elephant and her adopted calf were finally released into a forest two years after they were rescued in Thailand.

The younger jumbo, Tab-Sela, and her stepmum Valentine were set free at the Doi Pha Mueang Wildlife Sanctuary forest in Lampang province, Thailand on November 30.

Tab-Sela was only two-months-old when she was abandoned by her herd in the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Uthai Thani Province on April 27, 2020.

Wildlife officials took her under their care, with Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation selecting a suitable surrogate mum for the juvenile elephant.

With the help of non-profit agency the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of Thailand, Tab-Sela was introduced to Valentine, and the pair have since developed a strong bond.

After two years of acclimatizing to the wilderness, both elephants were determined strong enough to survive in the forest. Physical checkups also showed they were in good health.

Local media reported that the pair will be tracked by a team of wildlife officers and mahouts for the first two weeks before being left completely on their own.

Thailand has an estimated 2,000 Asian elephants living in the wild where they wander freely among protect forests. However, there is often conflict when they come into contact with humans on roads and in villages.

A similar number of elephants are kept in captivity where they work in the tourist industry or get hired out for religious festivals and weddings. A small number still work in commercial logging.