Wild footage shows very friendly elephant greeting, crushing visitor's car in Thailand
A group of Thailand tourists had quite the experience during their visit to Khao Yai National Park last month when they encountered a friendly bull elephant who attempted to sit on top of their car.
The park, located about 2.5 hours outside of Bangkok, is the third-largest national park in Thailand and home to 70 species of animals, including elephants, otters, bears and gaurs. Visitors come from all around the world to experience the World Heritage site and catch a glimpse of its wildlife -- and elephant sightings are frequently reported in its grasslands.
However, one elephant got a little too friendly with the park's visitors when it approached a car full of sight-seers stopped on Thanarat Road. In a now-viral video, the elephant can be seen blocking the car from passing and later leaning on the vehicle. The animal then steps over the car with its front feet, lowering himself down and laying on a top of the car. The driver of the car slowly inches away from the elephant to escape, continuing on the road.
Although no one inside the car was reported to be injured, the car was left with multiple dents and crushed windows.
After footage from the encounter went viral, park staff took to Facebook to identify the elephant as Duea, a 35-year-old bull elephant who is known to "greet" tourists around this time of year. The park advises tourists to not stop their cars on the roads to take photos of the animals.
