Shocking moment four-ton elephant gets stuck in supermarket... and somehow only causes £22.70 damage
An elephant has run rampant in a Thai supermarket, but somehow caused just £22.70 in damages.
Footage from the store in the north-eastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima on Monday afternoon showed the 25-year-old elephant named Plai Biang Lek tucking into rice cakes and chicken eggs after wandering in.
The enormous mammal spent around 10 minutes meandering through the store, before getting wedged in the ceiling.
Somehow, shopkeeper Khamploy Gakaew managed to convince the animal to leave the store.
And after totting up the total damage caused, the final bill came to just 1,000 baht (£22.70).
Gakaew said: 'This was the first time an elephant had visited the store. I hope he doesn't come back. I was worried about the damage he could cause.
'He ate sweet, crispy rice cakes and chicken eggs before walking out. I was surprised to see him eating sweet food, as elephants usually search for something salty.
'We see elephants occasionally, and they will bother street food vendors for food. But this was unusual.'
Following his impromptu shopping trip, Plai Biang Lek was escorted back to woodland, away from any danger, by wildlife rangers who said they were monitoring him to make sure he didn't come back.
The size of the meal he consumed was remarkable, given that elephants need to eat up to 150kg of food per day – the equivalent of 375 tins of baked beans - to stay alive.
Thai conservationists said that wild elephants have started to develop a taste for human food, and are starting to rummage through homes and vehicles for high-calorie snacks instead of the bland leaves they normally eat in woodland.
Though this docile creature left the store having caused little harm, the same cannot be said for all elephants.
Earlier this year, a Spanish tourist died after an elephant forcefully knocked her over with its trunk at a popular animal sanctuary in Thailand.
Blanca Ojanguren Garcia, 22, from Valladolid, was bathing an elephant in January at the Koh Yao sanctuary on the Thai island of Yao Yai when the animal suddenly caused her the fatal blow.
Garcia, a Law and International Relations student, was rushed to a nearby hospital where she later died.
According to Spanish national paper El Pais the incident was confirmed by local police and the elephant care centre.
Reports had previously claimed the university student had been gored by the elephant, but trusted Spanish news agency EFE verified that this was not the case.
The incident was confirmed by local police and the sanctuary, which is currently closed as a result of the tragic accident.
Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that there were around 18 people present at the time of the incident, including Garcia's boyfriend.
No one else was reportedly injured.
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