elephant chases vegetable seller's van as it tries to steal snack in Thailand
- 2 years ago
elephant chases vegetable seller's van as it tries to steal snack in Thailand
This is the hair-raising moment a wild elephant tried to hold up a vegetable seller's van in Thailand, forcing her to reverse out of the way.
Footage shows the huge animal approaching Rungthip Ketpradit's van in Chachoengsao province, south-eastern Thailand, on January 23.
The footage begins with Ms Ketpradit filming as the elephant sauntered across the street, attracted by the vegetables in the back of the truck.
As the elephant approached the vehicle, Ms Ketpradit tried to move around it.
But the animal was undeterred so the vegetable vendor slammed the van into reverse.
To her bemusement, the animal followed her down the road and only relented when she outran it.
Afterwards Ms Ketpradit said: 'I think the elephant was trying to eat the vegetable kept in the back of my pickup truck.
'I was scared but it didn't hurt us.'
Thailand has an estimated 2,000 Asian elephants living in the wild but there is often conflict when they come into contact with humans on roads and in villages.
A similar number of elephants are kept captive where they work in zoos and are hired out for religious festivals and weddings.
Conservationists even believe that some elephants have even evolved to prefer food from humans driving passing cars over the jungle food.
However, elephants can pose a serious risk to humans in Thailand.
This is the hair-raising moment a wild elephant tried to hold up a vegetable seller's van in Thailand, forcing her to reverse out of the way.
Footage shows the huge animal approaching Rungthip Ketpradit's van in Chachoengsao province, south-eastern Thailand, on January 23.
The footage begins with Ms Ketpradit filming as the elephant sauntered across the street, attracted by the vegetables in the back of the truck.
As the elephant approached the vehicle, Ms Ketpradit tried to move around it.
But the animal was undeterred so the vegetable vendor slammed the van into reverse.
To her bemusement, the animal followed her down the road and only relented when she outran it.
Afterwards Ms Ketpradit said: 'I think the elephant was trying to eat the vegetable kept in the back of my pickup truck.
'I was scared but it didn't hurt us.'
Thailand has an estimated 2,000 Asian elephants living in the wild but there is often conflict when they come into contact with humans on roads and in villages.
A similar number of elephants are kept captive where they work in zoos and are hired out for religious festivals and weddings.
Conservationists even believe that some elephants have even evolved to prefer food from humans driving passing cars over the jungle food.
However, elephants can pose a serious risk to humans in Thailand.