Elephant goes on rampage after being spurned by mate at Chinese nature reserve

WELL, it’s one way to deal with your sexual frustration. An elephant who was spurned by a would-be mate wrecked dozens of cars at a nature reserve.

Horny elephant goes on rampage

AFTER losing out on his love interest, a wild elephant has turned his attention to cars.

The elephant wandered out of a nature reserve in southern China on Friday following a failed courtship and started playing with cars parked along a highway, slightly damaging more than a dozen vehicles, authorities said.

The government of Xishuangbanna prefecture said that the animal had recently lost to another male elephant in a battle for the affections of a female, and that his temperament was moody.

Wild elephant in heat wanders onto crowded tourist road in SW China, damaging a dozen cars https://t.co/swUggje2yl pic.twitter.com/LPqwj6zyj7

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) February 13, 2016

Staff at the nature reserve thought the animal might have become playful at the sight of the cars, the government said in a posting on its social media account.

The elephant did not hurt any of the tourists who had crowded the area during the Lunar New Year holiday, and who were very excited to see the elephant, the government said. The animal’s public appearance lasted about 20 minutes before he returned to the nature reserve.

Town visit ... A wild elephant that strayed into the town stands after authorities shot it with a tranquilliser gun at Siliguri in West Bengal state, India. Picture: AP

“The tourists were quite excited to see a real wild elephant, and they were using their cellphones to take photos and videos,” the government said. “Even the owners of some damaged cars found the experience to be thrilling and very interesting, although their cars got scraped.”

The owners of the 15 cars that were damaged by the elephant will be compensated, the government said.

The incident came a few days after an elephant ran amok through an East Indian town, trampling parked cars and motorbikes.

The elephant had wandered from the Baikunthapur forest, crossing roads and a small river before entering the town of Siliguri in West Bengal state. The animal did not attack any people, and was tranquillised before being returned to the forest.