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A lone elephant was seen bounding along a road in Malaysia recently.

Elephant bounding along road

Footage of the bewildering incident was uploaded by @zafidos onto TikTok on May 1.

The 10-second clip shows the majestic beast approaching and then running past the stationary vehicle that the person filming the video was in.

He then said the word "elephant" twice, seemingly as if he could not believe his eyes, telling his bespectacled male companion in the driver's seat: "This is crazy."

As the elephant moved out of the frame, the camera panned forward and revealed that there were five other stationary vehicles in front.

It seems that the other vehicles had stopped momentarily, either to gawk at the spectacle, or to give way to the roving elephant.

@zafidosGajah berlari.♬ Balik Kampung - Dato' Sudirman

Elephant was returning home for Raya

The video was accompanied by background music to the tune of "Balik Kampung", which was originally sang by Sudirman Arshad.

This might have spurred many in the comments section to joke that the elephant was in a hurry to return home for the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festivities.

In case you didn't know, Malaysia is celebrating the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri today (May 2).

This is a day ahead of Singapore, which will be celebrating the holiday on May 3.

Not the first time elephants were seen at Gerik

The TikTok user @zafidos tagged the location as Gerik, the district capital of Hulu Perak District in Perak, Malaysia.

While no doubt bewildering, this incident is not unique as this was not the first time an elephant has been spotted on the roads of Gerik, or even within the capital itself for that matter.

Less than two months ago on Feb. 14, 2022, a wild elephant was filmed entering an army camp in Perak in search of food, according to The Rakyat Post.

@iswadimustafa10 gajah mengamuk kem tasik banding..#Fyp ♬ bunyi asal - Dato Iswadi mustafa

In August 2020, three wild elephants were spotted along the East-West Highway, or Gerik-Jeli Highway, near Gerik, Perak. One of the elephants reportedly stomped on a car, according to CNA.

It was believed that the elephant was frightened by an oncoming vehicle. The driver of the vehicle had apparently sounded his car horn at the animal in a bid to get it to move off the road.

No one was harmed during that incident.

Peninsular Malaysia's elephant population

According to a 2017 New Straits Times report that was published after a two-year-old elephant calf was killed by an oncoming bus along Perak's highway, the Malaysian peninsula is home to wild Asian or Asiatic elephants.

These elephants can be found in Perak, Selangor, but are more commonly seen in Pahang, Negri Sembilan, where there is said to be a higher population of these wild animals.

A more recent report estimated that there were around 2,000 Asian elephants remaining in the Malaysian peninsula in 2019.

More elephant stories

Top image screenshot from @zafidos/TikTok