A jaw-dropping TikTok video of an elephant inside a Thai grocery store sparked amazement and disbelief online, serving as a jumbo-sized reminder of what can happen when humans intrude on natural habitats.
What's happening?
The video, posted by NBC News (@nbcnews), shows a full-size elephant helping itself to snacks while confused and terrified shoppers look on.
@nbcnews An #elephant caused chaos in a grocery store in #Thailand when it walked in and began to help itself to snacks.
♬ original sound - nbcnews
"The tusked thief managed to grab nine bags of sweet rice crackers, a sandwich and some bananas," one of the video's captions explained.
The captions further revealed that the grocery store was "located near the Khao Yai National Park in central Thailand" and that the elephant was familiar to locals, who named it Plai Bieng Lek.
At the end of the video, the elephant backed its way out of the store and into the street. Thankfully, both onlookers and the elephant appeared unharmed by the interaction.
Many commenters responded to the seemingly absurd video with funny quips.
"He's trying his best not to damage anything, very respectful," joked one.
"There isn't a sign outside saying no elephants so I don't see what the issue is," chimed in another.
"We can no longer ignore the elephant in the room!" exclaimed a third.
Why are increased human-wildlife interactions important?
While an elephant entering a grocery store is an absurd and funny thing for people in many parts of the world to see, the video also underscores the darker reality of what happens when humans intrude into natural habitats.
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Definitely 👍 Plai Bieng Lek very well could have wandered into the grocery store out of hunger and desperation because elephants' natural sources of food have disappeared due to human activity.
As humans expand their presence into previously wild areas, whether it be through urbanization or agriculture, it causes habitat destruction, fragmentation of habitats, pollution, and loss of biodiversity, according to UPPCS Magazine.
This poses a problem not just for wildlife and the environment, but for humans and our economy, as well.
"It is estimated that more than half of world gross domestic product ($84.4 trillion in 2020) depends moderately ($31 trillion per year) or highly ($13 trillion per year) on ecosystem services," according to a report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
While it is difficult to account for all loss of wild areas, humans destroyed 10 million hectares (39,000 square miles) of forestland alone every single year from 2015 through 2020, with expansion of agricultural lands accounting for a staggering 90% of that loss, according to the U.N. FAO.
What's being done about increased wildlife-human interactions?
In order to decrease the number of wildlife-human interactions, and thereby increase the safety of animals and humans alike, the most important step is making sure we provide wildlife with sufficient protected spaces where they can thrive as they have since long before humans first encroached on their habitats.
The situation calls for solutions large and small, from advocating for protected wildlife habitats and parks to creating your own mini-habitat in your yard.
By rewilding your yard using native, pollinator-friendly vegetation, you can do your part to help curb the impact of habitat destruction on local wildlife.
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