Video:​Drunk man challenges elephant in Udawalawe

11 March 2015 08:49 am

Alcohol often goes hand in hand with violence, but no matter the level of intoxication most people would dare not pick a fight with an elephant.

This was not the case recently in Sri Lanka, when a drunk man in a national park decided to antagonize an elephant as horrified onlookers stood by.

Video of the encounter shows members of the crowd shouting at the man to leave the elephant alone as it had killed a person only days earlier. 

But ignoring their pleas, he begins taunting the angry creature by first lying down on a bank directly in front of it.

Despite the increasingly urgent cries from the crowd, he gets up and climbs down the bank until he is standing in front of the animal.

Suddenly, it loses its temper and rushes towards him. He falls over and is trampled by it before it almost immediately wanders away disinterested.
The drunk man is then pulled up the grassy bank and it appears as though part of his ear has been torn off and his once-muddy shirt is left covered in blood.
The footage was filmed in the Udawalawe National Park in Sri Lanka, where it's believed around 250 Sri Lankan Elephants - a species native to the country.
A policeman also appears in the background of the video, though it is unclear if he arrested or intervened following the fight. (Daily Mail)