“The viral elephant video may be old, but the empathy it inspires is real”, First Post, 30 Aug 2026.
“The video of a herd of elephants that were washed up in Uttar Pradesh after Nepal’s devastating mud flood this week has gone viral on social media. While one section claims it is recent, others say the incident happened last year, and the elephants rescued in the state have nothing to do with the current crisis in Nepal. Be that as it may, the real issue is something else.
Amid all the heartbreak and horror of what’s unfolding in Nepal, the elephant story was a rare positive and heartwarming nugget. Most people who reposted the story on various social media platforms — including me — did so because it seemed like a genuine silver lining in an unremittingly grey news landscape. There were so many headlines about the lives lost or people missing that a herd of elephants swimming to safety seemed like a genuinely feel-good story to hold on to.
This brings me to the reason why so many animal stories and videos go viral these days. With wars and worries dominating not just social media but all types of media content, the simple, heart-warming visuals of someone offering water to a monkey or a tiger sleeping in the sun or a train waiting for a herd of elephants to cross over shine bright like a real ray of hope. It makes one smile, feel good about being human, and reassured that all is not ill with the world. Even for those who do not or cannot make a material difference through charitable donations or voluntary work, just watching and sharing animal videos feels like a personal contribution…..”
Read the full article at First Post.
