Elephant Who Sat On A Car Was Not Simply 'Horny'

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An elephant in Thailand has been labeled "horny" with an "itchy butt" after he was filmed sitting on a car this past weekend. This elephant is frustrated, sure - but not sexually.

A park official for Khao Yai National Park, a wildlife reserve near Bangkok, chalked the event up to mating season in a conversation with the BBC, and the jokes started cracking. But Keith Lindsay, elephant expert at the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, argues that any fingers wagged at the elephant are pointed in the wrong direction - it's humans who were in the elephant's way.

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"The male in the video clip is not showing mating behavior, and is not 'mounting' the car," Lindsay wrote to The Dodo in an email. "He may be revved up, but he is not confused between a car and a female elephant - elephants are not stupid."

Drawn to salt licks near the roads that wind through the wildlife reserve, the free-ranging elephants face increasing numbers of bothersome cars. Honking horns, flashing lights and people driving too close have made the elephants "badly disposed towards vehicles," Lindsay said.

An uptick in the number of park visitors is forcing elephants to move into areas frequented by humans, Thai officials have noted, warning that tourists should be more considerate guests.

Lindsay agrees. These instances, he said, are "about human disrespect for elephants and wildlife."