Locals watch elephant stroll along motorway to 'reach supermarket' in Italy

29 July 2023 , 14:10

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Locals watch elephant stroll along motorway to 'reach supermarket' in Italy

An elephant was spotted stomping along a highway in southern Italy earlier this week.

In hilarious footgae, the mighty creature was seen plodding along a motorway in Calabria on Thursday just a few feet away from the Eurospin supermarket. According to the video, the mammoth animal looks as though it's heading towards the store.

The woman filming can be heard giggling as she describes what she sees. "He's going for a stroll", the woman says in a video shared with the BBC. "An elephant at the Eurospin (a popular supermarket in Italy)."

Local media has claimed that the elephant broke free from a nearby circus but has now been returned. Cops failed to address the elephant in the room and refused to confirm the story, reports the BBC.

The woman filming giggles as she records the elephant stomping along the motorway (BBC)

Local sites added that the elephant managed to reach the store and that it may have been drawn there by the smells. Elephants have a keen sense of smell and can detect sources of water up to 12 miles away.

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Earlier this year, similar incredible sights were seen in West Bengal when a trio of elephants stomped through a hospital in front of stunned onlookers. Clearly there wasn’t much space for the massive animals and one, struggling with a narrow passageway, was forced to go through a set of doors backwards in the Indian hospital.

The creature appeared to be headed towards the Eurospin supermarket (BBC)

Local sites said the creature was drawn there by the smell (BBC)

One of the elephants could be seen standing for a while in a corridor of the Binnaguri army camp hospital, in West Bengal, and looked as surprised as staff. Indian Forest Service Officer Susanta Nanda tweeted the amazing footage captioning it: “Elephants in the room … From Jalpaiguri Cantonment.”

It has quickly gone viral on social media with many commenting on the unusual scene. One person joked: “Lab inspection by top management” and other similarly wrote: “Must have come for regular health check-up.”

Others were more serious and see it as the result of land being continually built on in India that belonged to animals. A person tweeted: “I think this happens when you occupy their habitat and make structures on that. It’s their land and (they) want it back.”

Ryan Fahey