This is the hilarious moment an elephant attacked a huge sculpture at a wildlife park – after mistaking it for a love rival.
Tourists spotted the male elephant searching for food near the tourist centre in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand.
While looking around the bull the found the large sculpture of an elephant and became confused by its likeness.
Angry elephant mistakes model for love rival and gets to work
The elephant can been seen staring down the artwork for a few moments before charging at the inanimate object and knocking it on its side.
One of the model’s tusks can even be heard snapping as it hits the ground.
Thinking he was victorious over the sculpture, the elephant walks away triumphantly towards the forest while park rangers looked on from a distance.
This is the hilarious moment an elephant attacked a huge sculpture in a Thailand wildlife park – after mistaking it for a love rival
National Park officer Ple Srichai said the bull is likely to have mistook the sculpture for another male which threatened his breeding rights.
He said: ‘I thought it was funny how the wild elephant was trying to attack the statue. Male elephants often fight over females so maybe he thought it was a real elephant he needed to show his dominance over.’
There were also shocked onlookers who watched and screamed as the male jumbo knocked down the statue. When the elephant left, the officers removed the sculpture.
The elephant can been seen staring down the artwork for a few moments before charging at the inanimate object and knocking it on its side
Thinking he was victorious over the sculpture, the elephant walks away triumphantly towards the forest while park rangers looked on from a distance
No one was reported hurt in the incident and officers decided that they should transfer the sculpture into another part of the park to prevent a similar attack happening again.
Male Asian elephants roam alone and only join herds to mate. In contrast, African male elephants remain part of the herds for their whole life.
An estimated 2,000 elephants are living in the wild in Thailand and a similar number in captivity, where they live in sanctuaries, zoos or work privately for hire at weddings and festivals.