A heartbroken mother elephant appeared to desperately try to revive her baby after it was struck by a passing truck.

The jumbo and her calf were ambling along the side of the East-West Highway at night when an oncoming container lorry failed to stop in time in Perak, Malaysia.

Footage shows the adult pachyderm sniffing around the vehicle on May 11. She reached her trunk beneath the truck, trying to reach the juvenile tusker that had been dragged under by the force of the collision.

Zulkifli Mahmood, Gerik Regional Police Chief Superintendent, said: 'Based on statements from witnesses, the mother elephant tried to attack the truck and pushed it. She looked angry.'

The police chief added that the truck driver had told them he did not have time to brake.

The giant female mammal tried to flip over the vehicle with the driver still in his seat, but it was too heavy.

Blood spilt around her offspring, still stuck under.

Rescuers arrived in the morning to remove the young jumbo from under the car and checked the parent for injuries.

However, the calf was already dead when they arrived.

The police chief said: 'The baby elephant died at the scene of the collision.'

The 28-year-old driver who was transporting chickens from Gerik to Jeli was unhurt.

Superintendent Zulkifli said: 'He told us the adult elephant was eating grass on the right side and thought it was safe.

'Suddenly, the male calf ran across and the collision happened.'

Police contacted the Perak Wildlife Protection and National Parks Department for a rescue operation.

Officers administered a sedative to the mother elephant to calm her and evacuate her from the area.

The mother elephant had been in the area for more than six hours before wildlife team members returned her to the forest.

Yusoff Shariff, Perak Wildlife Protection and National Parks Department Director, said: 'The sedative we used had the right dosage based on the elephant's weight so it could be taken to the nearest forest. The evacuation site was only about one kilometre from the scene.'

The officers are monitoring the mother in case she returns to the site to look for her baby.

While work on removing the male calf's body from the road and burying it is still ongoing.