In Thailand and Cambodia, where the elephant is king and sugarcane is a cash crop, truck drivers pay a toll unlike any other. Local elephants have learned to flag down trucks to steal a sugary snack:
The clever elephants are so good at highway robbery that they even work in pairs:
Via Andrew Y.
Sweet gig…
I read the description on the first video: He’s a wild elephant nicknamed “Fatty”; about 35 years old and does not have tusks (which I didn’t even notice until I read that).
A greedy wild elephant shunned jungle leaves and instead stopped passing trucks to steal sugarcane.
The 35-year-old jumbo nicknamed ‘Fatty’ by locals emerged from the forest on a road in Chachoengsao province, Thailand, on December 29.
He walked in front of the vehicles forcing them to slow down, then reached up to the sweet-smelling cargo in their trailers.
Footage shows the bull gorging on the sweet snacks freshly harvested from nearby fields before they arrive at factories to make sugar.
Some truck drivers even had to swerve into the opposite lane to avoid being raided by the powerful beast.
Onlooker Au Wanapin said: ‘This elephant is called ‘Fatty’ because of how much food he eats. He is about 35, male, and does not have tusks.
‘He’s a wild elephant but he comes out of the woods every year in this area to wait for sugarcane trucks. There are many of them, he’s not the only elephant that does this.’
Thailand has an estimated 2,000 Asian elephants living in the wild where they wander freely among protected forests. Male Asian elephants, unlike African elephants, roam alone once they are over 10 years old while females remain with the herd.
Wildlife officials believe that smart wild elephants have honed the habit of stealing fresh food from vehicles, which provide a plentiful source of food.
However, it is not because they are hungry. Officials believe elephants simply target homes and trucks because they prefer the tastier food over what they can forage for in the jungle.
this extra commentary is great! thanks, allein! I love that he only comes out of the woods for the harvest. Also love any animal named “Fatty”
I’ve seen a lot of toll booths on roads in my travels but never toll elephants.
Sugar, apparently a universal treat
That elephant has a good thing going!
Interesting that some trucks let them have cane and others dramatically avoid it.
the 2 trucks at the end that wouldn’t let him have any made me sad!! and the way he kind of “pawed” forlornly at the trucks with his trunk was a heart tugger.
I imagine the behavior’s a lot less cute if you’re struggling to make ends meet. But *you* try explaining mortgages to an elephant.
Truck drivers should start carrying some in the cab. Just hand a cane to the ele-cop and drive on.
This is one type of highway robbery I can get behind. And I’m like the elephant, I love sweets! I think I hear a chocolate bar calling my name right now.
A daily supply of sugar cane seems like a really really low price to pay for encroaching on their environment, though I’m not sure how good sugar cane is for their teeth. I hope elephant diabetes is not a thing.
Cutest pirates EVAH! I loved Fatty’s hopeful expression: “Do you have any sugar cane?”