Viral: Hungry elephant strolls into a grocery store; what happened next will melt your heart

Being a grocery store owner, you see different types of customers throughout the day. Some sweet, some moody and some that are just there to stroll. Out of all the kinds of customers one could imagine would enter their store, an elephant is definitely not on the list.

But, hey aren't some customers just meant to surprise?In a video going viral all over social media, a giant elephant strolled into a convenience store in Thailand to munch on some bites. The giant, whose back was touching the roof of the store, headed straight to the snacks counter, as seen in the CCTV footage. While this is surprising in the first place, what's even more stunning is the fact that the elephant is a neighbourhood resident.Yes, his name is Plai Biang Lek, and he is well-known in the area. Since the store is located near the Khao Yai National Park, many elephants often move around the area.While Biang Lek had even previously strolled around the store he had never entered it until now, say reports.

The video shows Biang Lek scouring through the snacks section while standing inside the store while people can be heard speaking around him, discussing ways to get him out.

"It walked up to the counter - the candy counter near the freezer. It used its trunk to gently push the freezer out of the way so it could fit inside. It went straight to the snacks, picked through them with its trunk. It ate about 10 bags of sweets ... It also ate dried bananas and peanut snacks," shopkeeper Khamploi Kakaew told CNN.

It was only after he was done eating, that he listened to people's calls to 'back out' and exited the shop.

Social media reactions

The video of the hungry elephant has gone viral on social media with people adoring the elephant and loving how the surrounding humans did not try to harm it in order to prevent it from eating some snacks."🥹😂 I love how they gently persuaded him to leave. We need more people to be kind to animals," wrote a person on X. "Hahaha. Sorry to the store owner but thanks to him for reacting so calmly" added another.Others tried their hands at commenting with elephant-related puns such as "They really should address the elephant in the room" and "The elephant in the room. –––There is indeed an elephant."