New Delhi: A heartwarming photo of a baby elephant sleeping next to its mother days after it was rescued by forest personnel is going viral on the internet.Supriya Sahu, who is additional chief secretary to the Tamil Nadu government’s environment department, shared the photo on social media platform X on Tuesday (January 2) evening.When a picture is worth a million words ❤️ the rescued baby elephant after uniting with the mother takes an afternoon nap in her mother’s comforting arms before moving again with the big herd. Picture taken by Forest field staff somewhere in Anamalai Tiger reserve who are keeping… https://t.co/EedfkKjLHj pic.twitter.com/ttqafSudyM— Supriya Sahu IAS (@supriyasahuias) January 2, 2024The Anamalai Tiger Reserve is located in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore and Pollachi districts.Sahu said on Saturday (December 30) that the baby elephant was rescued by foresters after it was spotted searching for its mother.“With the help of drones [and] experienced forest watchers, the herd was located and the tiny calf was safely reunited,” she said on X.The year ends on a heartwarming note for us at TN Forest Department, as our Foresters united a lost baby elephant with her mother and the herd after rescue in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve at Pollachi. The little calf was found searching for the mother when field teams spotted her.… pic.twitter.com/D44UX6FaGl— Supriya Sahu IAS (@supriyasahuias) December 30, 2023The baby elephant is around four or five months old, news agency ANI cited an Anamalai Tiger Reserve official as saying.It was washed and then covered by mud to remove human imprints, following which it was released close to the herd, the official added.An elephant census held in 2017 said that there were 29,964 elephants in India, making up almost 60% of the world’s population of Asiatic elephants.Under India’s wildlife protection law, elephants are Schedule 1 animals, which means they are accorded high levels of legal protection.