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Adorable photos of a mother elephant scooping her calf out of a pool of water have emerged from South Africa.

The mum and her herd came to the rescue of her baby - using only their trunks to fish him out. 

The photos were taken in Addo National Park near Port Elizabeth, in South Africa, where around 600 elephants call home.

Adorable photos of an elephant and her herd scooping a baby calf out of the water have emerged

In Addo National Park in South Africa, a sweet baby calf tumbled into a pool of water

Amateur photographer Adele van Schalkwyk, who works as a technologist at a private pathology laboratory in Vredenburg, South Africa, said she could sense the emotion from the herd as she took the photos.

She said: 'When I took these photographs, I was amazed to see the level of compassion and teamwork between the elephants helping the little one.

'From the moment they arrived at the dam, they were protecting the little one. When it slipped and fell in, they quickly came together and with their trunks, helped it out.'

The mum and her herd immediately sprung into action - fishing the baby out of the water with their trunks

Adele van Schalkwyk happened to be in the area and snapped several photos of the sweet moment

'When I took these photographs, I was amazed to see the level of compassion and teamwork,' she said

The 46-year-old photographer named the series Together with Love after one of the photos that shows four of the elephants helping the calf.

Miss van Schalkwyk, who said she was happiest when photographing 'the gifts of nature', added: 'They tried to keep the calf away from the water. In one of the photos you can actually see how one uses her trunk to try and keep him away.

'But like a naughty child he did not listen and again slipped and fell. They quickly used their trunks to help him out though.'

The 46-year-old amateur photographer called the series of photos 'Together with Love'

Though the mother did try to keep the calf away from the water, he didn't listen 'like a naughty child'

But as soon as he slipped, the four elephants quickly used their trunks to rescue him 

Addo National Park is the third largest in South Africa. The original elephant section of the park was developed in 1931 to protect the animals, when only around 11 elephants remained in the area.

Miss van Schalkwyk said: 'So many elephants and animals are hunted to near extinction. It is important to see that these animals do have emotion and feelings and are not just something to profit by.

'In today's world, with so many things going wrong, I think we humans can learn a lot from these animals.'

The Addo National Park is the third largest in South Africa and home to over 600 elephants

'It is important to see that these animals do have emotion and feelings,' van Schalkwyk explained

'[Elephants] are not something to profit by,' she added. 'I think we humans can learn a lot from these animals'