Filed on October 5, 2019 | Last updated on October 5, 2019 at 07.34 pm

Incident could take emotional toll on herd.

Six elephants have fallen to their deaths in Thailand after attempting to save each other after a baby elephant slipped over a waterfall.

Thai authorities are trying to move the two other elephants that have been spotted on a cliff's edge nearby.

Officials were called to the scene at 3am when a group of elephants were blocking the road by the Haew Narok (Hell's Fall) waterfall. They say that the elephants tried to save each other from the waterfall in southern Thailand's Khao Yai National Park.

Three hours later, the body of a 3-year-old baby elephant was discovered at the base of the waterfall, while five others were found nearby.

There have been similar incidents previously at this waterfall, with a herd of eight elephants falling to their deaths in 1992.

According to Edwin Wiek, founder of Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, any elephants left in the herd would have difficulty surviving as the highly social animals rely on each other for finding food and protection.

Elephants have been observed to show signs of grief and mourning, so the incident could take an emotional toll on the herd.

"It's like losing half your family," Mr Wiek told the BBC. "There's nothing you can do, it's nature, unfortunately," he said.

Around 7,000 Asian elephants remain in Thailand, with more than half living in captivity.