And it turns out elephants are no different.

This female Asian elephant wrapped her trunk around her calf and planted what looked to be a big kiss right on its head.

The mother and her child were snapped tangled in each other's trunks sharing a cuddle at an elephant orphanage in Pinnawela, Sri Lanka, proving that even elephants enjoy nothing more than a loving snuggle.

It was captured by Ukranian amateur photographer Koziuk Vladimir, 39, who managed to catch the embrace by chance.

The artist headed off to Sri Lanka on a family holiday but couldn't resist the opportunity to get his Canon EOS-1Ds mark III camera out and capture the cuddle.

After the embrace, the duo took off and joined the rest of the herd to cool off in the river.

The amateur photographer took to photography when he was just 10 years old but has never come

He said: 'It was amazing to be able to witness this moment because until I visited the centre I've never seen anything so dramatic between animals.


'The orphanage centre must be doing really great work because all the elephants seemed happy.

'In the time I spent there I managed to watch lots of elephants cuddle up to each other which is such a special sight.

'It was a privilege to visit the orphanage because they take care of lots of injured elephants.

'It's reassuring to know that the injured animals get a safe place to live where they're properly cared for instead of being in the wild where they may come under threat.
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