This elephant must have thought he was on the main road as he walked between cars – and created a long line of traffic.
The Asian male elephant held the vehicles for about an hour as he walked along a long road in Khao Yai National Park in Thailand.
The bull was finding his way to the food and would have been taught the way by his mother when he was a calf.
The massive elephant usually goes to eat some lush vegetation by the roadside without worries for the tourists in their car nearby.
Photographer Chalit Saphaphak, 30, of Suphanburi, Thailand, said: ‘The elephant was on his own. He was on the road and got stuck in traffic for an hour.
‘During this time, no one dared to force him out of the way. The tourist just let him do what he wanted and went on his own.
‘The elephant did not react to the vehicle or anyone in it. But for other elephants, it depends on the situation.
‘If a tourist hurts them, they are scared or feel threatened, an elephant can and will step on the car.’
Hungry elephants are known to walk the National Park path – even before the runway was laid – this path was a popular route for foraging.
Chalit continued: ‘The elephants in Khao Yai National Park travel by road, often in winter and sometimes in the rain.’
‘Tourists are always scared when they see an elephant on the road, but they understand that it can happen like they are in a national park.
‘Some people feel that they are lucky to see something like this because not many people get to see elephants like this in the national park.’
