Thumbnail made using OpenAi
I just watched a video on YouTube of an elephant blocking a milk truck somewhere in Asia. The elephant stood in front of the truck and then began to push it with its trunk and head aggressively. The driver tried to go around but you could tell from the video the elephant was not ready to let him go.
That's the video below.
Some of the people who commented implied the reason the elephant was blocking the truck was that it smelled milk and wanted food. Asian elephants will do this from time to time, approach vehicles looking for food, which is easily possible but does this mean it is an everyday occurrence, no. I think it shows desperation in the elephant, it was clearly hungry or liked the milk scent a lot.
While the truck eventually got away from what I could see, the elephant did not easily give up. The whole thing was mixed feelings for me because I wanted to laugh at the scene but it's also a driver in danger and products that could be destroyed costing a lot of money so it's a seriously big deal. This is not necessarily a cute and funny wildlife clip you see shared online, but just an elephant doing what had to be done because of us. You can't really blame the elephant either.
We have taken their land, their paths, their food, so they are left to wander on the roads very hungry and to demand food from trucks here.
I do not know what happened afterwards, I wasn't there. A few people have said that we should not feed wild animals because it causes dangerous behaviours. I would have agreed with it but my question is what is the alternative? They continue to starve because of our behavior which isn't helping their wild life?
So that's probably why we are left in this uncomfortable middle ground in which either option feels wrong. We want them to remain wild, but we have made that impossible.