Thailand rescue worker Mana Srivate has performed dozens of resuscitation attempts in his 26 years on the job, but never before on an elephant.
Mana was called into action while off duty on a road trip, treating a baby elephant that had been struck by a motorcycle while crossing a road with its wild herd in the eastern province of Chanthaburi.
In a video that spread on social media in Thailand, Mana is seen giving two-handed compressions to a small elephant lying on its side as colleagues a few metres away treat a dazed and injured motorcycle rider.
Afterwards, both the rider and elephant were recovering and neither had serious injuries.
“It’s my instinct to save lives, but I was worried the whole time because I can hear the mother and other elephants calling for the baby,” Mana said. “I assumed where an elephant heart would be located based on human theory and a video clip I saw online.
“When the baby elephant starting to move, I almost cried.”
The elephant stood up after about 10 minutes and was taken to another location for treatment, before being returned to the scene of the accident in the hope of being reunited with its mother.
The elephants soon returned when the mother heard her baby calling out, Mana said.
Despite having dealt with dozens of road traffic accidents involving humans, Mana said the elephant was the only one of his CPR recipients that had revived.