Baby elephant slaps Thai man’s head with its trunk to ask for food

Footage from Thailand shows a baby elephant repeatedly slapping a man’s head with his trunk to ask for food.

Footage from Thailand shows a baby elephant repeatedly slapping a man’s head with his trunk to ask for food.

The hungry jumbo repeatedly clobbered mahout (elephant caretaker) Waranyu Mueanrat to ask for some sugar cane stalk, in Surin province, Thailand on January 3.

Waranyu said the the two-year-old male elephant named Buaban was trying to get his attention so he could be fed.

"Buaban only lightly hits my head but it becomes a bit stronger when I don’t respond to her.

She knows exactly what to do when she’s hungry." It is not clear why the elephant is chained to a tree but elephants are sometimes kept for trekking with tourists in Thailand.

The absence of tourists during the pandemic is said to have worsened conditions for some such animals.