Watch: Elephants Collect ‘Jungle Tax’ After Truck Breaks Down

Elephants are always admired for their intelligence and gentle nature. From time to time, videos of these playful animals amusing people with their cute antics appear online. A recent Instagram post featuring one of these videos went viral. The clip, which was posted by Westafrikanman, features a touching demonstration of kindness and intelligence from a group of elephants who delighted the internet by seizing a fun opportunity.

The incident occurred when a truck full of juicy oranges broke down on a distant South African road. A short while later, a herd of elephants arrived and helped themselves to a feast of citrus fruits. The truck’s drivers could be seen attempting to fix the broken-down vehicle while the jumbos peacefully enjoyed the treat.

Watch the now-viral video here:

A post shared by Baba Ibadan ® in Texas (@westafrikanman)

The video was posted on Instagram on Friday, January 12, and it has collected more than 70 thousand views so far. It has also amassed over 50 thousand likes, so far. The clip quickly gained popularity, with memes and comments as well. The internet users were also impressed by the elephants’ audacity.

Social media users are also drooling over the ridiculous lengths the creature will go to in order to obtain a tasty treat. They can’t stop raving about how adorable these large-eared creatures are. “That truck didn’t break down. The elephants sabotaged it. It was all part of the plan,” a user commented. Another wrote, “It’s not robbery. It’s jungle tax that they’re collecting”. A user mentioned, “There are multiple stories on the Internet of elephants extorting ransom on delivery routes”. While a netizen said, “You say rob, I say they were lightening the load so the truck wouldn’t break down again”.

Similarly, a video of an adult elephant and a calf obstructing the path of a sugar cane-laden vehicle went viral last year. Only when what some refer to as tax was offered to them in the form of sugarcane did they choose to move aside.

Watch the video here:

Parveen Kaswan, an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, shared the video on X (Formerly Twitter). The 29-second video shows an elephant and its young one standing in front of a vehicle transporting sugarcane. They didn’t let the vehicle pass until a man spread a few sugarcane bunches across the road.