Thailand’s Mana Srivate has performed dozens of resuscitation attempts in his 26 years as a rescue worker, but never before on an elephant.

Mr Srivate was called into action while off duty on a road trip late on Sunday, successfully reviving a baby elephant that had been struck by a motorcycle while crossing a road in the eastern province of Chanthaburi.

In a video that went viral on social media in Thailand on Monday, Mr Srivate is seen giving two-handed compressions to a small elephant lying on its side.

A few metres away, a dazed and injured motorcycle rider is also being treated.

Neither the rider nor the elephant 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,” Mr Srivate told Reuters.

“I assumed where an elephant heart would be located based on human theory and a video clip I saw online,” he said.

“When the baby elephant started to move, I almost cried.”

The baby elephant started stirring after he had been working about 10 minutes. The rest of its herd soon returned when the mother heard her baby calling out, Mr Srivate said.

Despite having dealt with several road traffic accidents involving humans, Mr Srivate said the elephant was the only victim he had managed to revive while performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).