This is the heartwarming moment a lost baby elephant was finally adopted by a mother after months of being rejected.

Park rangers had been taking care of the young jumbo since they found her alone and separated from the herd in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Uthai Thani province, Thailand, on September 19.

They were bottle-feeding the calf with milk while looking for a mother elephant that would accept it.

Several elephants were paired with the female, named Noi, but the poor animal was always rejected from the herd after a few hours.

However, after three months of nurturing and several failed attempts to release the young jumbo back to the wild they were ready for another attempt on November 14.

Noi was taken to Lampang province in northern Thailand where she was put in a small bamboo enclosure deep in the jungle in the Doi Pa Meung Wildlife Sanctuary. Staff then waited for nearby mother elephants to hear Noi's calls.

The director of the sanctuary Piya Nunil said that the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation helped to prepare five mother elephants in the area and hoped one of them would accept the baby.

He said: ''The foundation helped us find the elephants in the area that are nurturing their babies. They each looked at our lost elephant until one of them formed an attachment.''

Finally one of the mother elephants, Tina, came to the lost baby’s enclosure, interacted with her, and started bonding before the rangers and specialists judged that the mother had accepted the baby on November 16. She then let the baby join the herd.

Piya added: ''It is a relief that the elephant is now able to return to the wild. But rangers will continue to monitor its progress to make sure he is safe.''

An estimated 2,000 elephants are living in the wild in Thailand and a similar number in captivity. In the wild, they roam through deep jungle and in the country's protected national parks.