A frisky bull elephant took out his seasonal frustration on a car in a Thai wildlife sanctuary by stomping over the vehicle and ripping off the bonnet with its tusks, before trying to sit down on it.
The young couple inside the badly damaged car luckily escaped injury after the beast went on the rampage down a road running through the Khao Yai National Park near Bangkok.
It had begun by rubbing itself up against other vehicles before resting its ample behind on the bonnet of a Mercedes saloon.
Having established its authority, the young male then headed back into the forest.
Authorities for the sanctuary, which is home to at least 300 wild elephants, have urged visitors to take extra care as it is mating season and the bulls can become aggressive.
National park rangers have also imposed curfew restrictions on motorists driving through the road.
Sanctuary chief Kanchit Srinoppawan said: "The drivers stopped when they saw the elephant and the elephant could not cross the road so he felt stressed and stomped the car.
"It pushed the car with its tusks and the bonnet fell off."
Kanchit warned visitors: "When you see an elephant do not honk, do not flash your car lights, do not take photos and keep your engine running."
But he pointed out the park ultimately belonged to the wildlife.
"We must balance between people, wild animals and tourism," he added.
In another incident at the park, a 30-year-old elephant wreaked havoc in a raid on a restaurant – apparently unable to resist the aroma of food cooking.
Scientist grows maggots under his skin
A Harvard scientist deliberately reared maggots inside his body – and filmed the moment they crawled out of his skin.
The entomologist and photographer came up with the project after he was bitten by mosquitoes on a trip to Belize last summer.
When he got back, he had three bites that wouldn't heal. Further investigation revealed they contained the larvae of the botfly.
Bot flies don't have their own jaws and have to rely on mosquitoes to get their eggs into a living host.
Once the eggs are inside a living body, they develop into maggots which grow barbs to grip the flesh around it to make it difficult to extract.
Naskrecki removed one of the maggots using a suction device usually used for extracting snake venom, but decided to leave the other two inside his body to "mature".
"I figured that being a male it was my only chance to produce another living, breathing being out of my flesh and blood," he explains.
After two months, the maggots were ready to wriggle their way out of his flesh in a process that took around 40 minutes.
"I don't want you to think that it's 'creepy' or 'weird'," added Naskrecki. "It is simply a documentation of an interesting organism, who happens to develop in the skin of large mammals."
Green cat not feeling quite so green
A green cat that caused a stir online after being spotted in a Bulgarian city is not feeling quite so green anymore.
For the famous cat has been given a wash by an animal rescue team allowing its natural fur colour to be seen for the first time.
However, remnants of its former self can be seen thanks to a few green patches that remain, namely on its ears and chest.
When images of the cat first emerged they were greeted by outrage in the Black Sea resort of Varna, with people believing that it had deliberately been painted.
However, it turns out that the animal had its unusual sleeping location to thank for its colouring.
The cat spend its nights in an old garage where it slept on some old green paint left there after construction work.
Licking its body then ensured that the whole of its body got covered and turned it a lurid shade of green.
Dog takes bus to park – on her own
A dog has worked out how to take herself for a walk – by taking the bus to the local park all by herself.
Eclipse, a two-year-old Labrador, walks to her local bus stop, hops on the bus and always manages to get off at the right spot.
She has become such a regular sight on the bus that she has befriended many of the regular passengers.
Eclipse's owner Jeff says he doesn't worry about her because he believes she has become completely streetwise.
"She's been urbanised, totally," said Jeff. "She's a bus-riding, side-walk walking dog."
Local transport officials say they are happy that Eclipse likes taking the bus to the local park.
But they have advised her owner that she would be safer if he could accompany her on all future journeys.
Post published in: World News