An injured baby elephant was airlifted from a forest after it was abandoned by its herd in Thailand.

The helpless female calf weighing around 150 kilograms was rescued by Srinakarin Dam National Park rangers, who found it lying in a bamboo shed in Kanchanaburi province.

Concerned villagers had built the structure for the month-old baby elephant on November 27, hoping its herd would come back for it.

However, they had to call wildlife officers when the animal fell ill two days later. It was unable to stand up and had pale mucous membranes and multiple sores on its mouth, lips, and ears.

The jumbo needed urgent medical care as it was severely dehydrated. It was given fluids and medicine intravenously before being flown out of the jungled on December 3.

The animal landed at the Wat Khok Chang School before being transported in a temperature-controlled van to the Bueng Chawak Non-Hunting Area in Suphan Buri province.

Chaiwut Areechon, senior forest official of the Srinakarin Dam National Park, said: ‘The baby elephant needed intensive care, but we found that the route by land had too many obstacles.

'We wanted to take the calf to the Bueng Chawak Non-hunting Area to let it recover, so we decided on using a helicopter. The baby elephant was anesthetised and brought to the destination safely.'

Vets are now caring for the jumbo, which will remain in the sanctuary indefinitely.

Chaiwut added: 'The elephant has to be cared for until it is strong. It might not be possible to return it into the wild without a herd that can adopt it.'

Thailand has an estimated 2,000 Asian elephants living in the wild where they wander freely among protected forests. However, there is often conflict when they come into contact with humans on roads and in villages so wildlife rangers are tasked with monitoring their movements.

A similar number of elephants in the country are also kept in captivity to work in the tourist industry or at religious festivals and weddings. A small number still work in commercial logging.