When Lek Chailert, founder of Elephant Nature Park (ENP) in Thailand, went to the river to clean off mud, her beloved elephant Faa Mai wasn’t about to let her go alone.

In a recent Facebook post, Chailert described how the young elephant stuck close by, using her trunk to ensure Chailert was safe.

Turning nine this year, Faa Mai spotted Chailert and rushed over to greet her with a mud trunk covering Chailert’s hair and face.

So Chailert went down to the river to wash up. But Faa Mai wasn’t about to let her out of sight. She followed her down, caressing her with her trunk as if to check her safety.

“She continuously checked to ensure that I was safe, touching me with her trunk,” Chailert said. “The more she touched me, the more I was dappled with dirt.”

As Chailert kneeled to clean herself, Faa Mai placed a protective foot on her back. When Chailert got out of the water, Faa Mai was beside her, nudging her away from the river’s edge. “She then shuffled me away from the river as is the way of a mother toward her calf,” Chailert noted.

Chailert and Faa Mai have a strong bond, often caught on camera at the sanctuary. Chailert sometimes sings to the elephant, and there’s even footage of the elephant singing a lullaby as Faa Mai snores. The two were also filmed playing hide-and-seek.

ENP is a sanctuary that rescues elephants from the tourism industry. Faa Mai’s mother, Mae Bua Tong, was forced to carry tourists up and down mountains for hours.

Many elephants in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries face similar conditions, often leading to severe exhaustion.

Fortunately, Mae Bua Tong was rescued in 2005 and brought to ENP along with her older child, Tong Jan. Faa Mai, the first elephant born free at ENP, has never had to experience the harsh conditions her mother endured, thanks to the compassionate care provided by the sanctuary.