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Male elephants hold up traffic while fighting over desirable female

http://youtu.be/9WeL9bIF2b8

Two male elephants fighting over mating rights to a desirable female held up traffic on a rural road in Thailand.

Footage shows the aggressive males in heat striking each other and blocking cars on a national park road in Chachoengsao province on April 7.

Terrified drivers stopped their vehicles on either side of the road waiting for the warring jumbos to return back to the woods.

The duel was done when the elephant with the longer tusks hit his opponent in the eye, forcing him to retreat and escape.

Vehicles also backed off as the victor elephant rushed chased away his crestfallen opponent and both disappeared into the forest.

When the jumbos were gone, the vehicles were able to move forward again. They reported the incident to park rangers afterwards.

Driver Sathaporn Srijan said: ‘We were stopped for at least ten minutes. We knew there were elephants here and most of the drivers were informed what to do.

‘It was exciting to watch them duel but at the same time frightened because they were both aggressive and defiant to win.’

No one was hurt among the motorists and their vehicles were not damaged from the incident.

Male Asian elephants roam alone and only join herds to mate. In contrast, African male elephants remain part of the herds for their whole life.

An estimated 2,000 elephants are living in the wild in Thailand and a similar number in captivity, where they live in sanctuaries, zoos or work privately for hire at weddings and festivals.

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