Employees of a small restaurant in southern India were stunned when an unexpected visitor checked in late night - a fully grown adult male elephant.

Murugesan, who works at Kannatha eatery in Thagadam near Coimbatore, wanted to go out to dispose of garbage after wrapping up the day’s work on July 8.

He saw an elephant stepping in and immediately retreated.

The elephant walked in and stood at the entrance of the small eatery. It sniffed around with its trunk, sampled water kept in a drum and gently tried lifting eggs and a packet of bread.

Staff left the restaurant from the back door and called on the forest department.

But the elephant quickly lost interest in the human food and left on its own without causing any damage to the property.

A forest officer said: “The elephant was not hungry and was curious. It was perhaps drawn in by the smell and the lights. It is fortunate that it did not create a conflict situation.”

Coimbatore district witnesses frequent incidents involving elephants.

Employees of a small restaurant in southern India were stunned when an unexpected visitor checked in late night - a fully grown adult male elephant.

Murugesan, who works at Kannatha eatery in Thagadam near Coimbatore, wanted to go out to dispose garbage after wrapping up the day’s work on July 8.

He saw an elephant stepping in and immediately retreated.

The elephant walked in leisurely, stood at the entrance of the small eatery. It sniffed around with its trunk, sampled water kept in a drum and gently tried lifting eggs and a packet of bread.

The employees of the restaurant bolted from the back door and were about to call the forest department.

But the elephant quickly lost interest in the human food and left on its own taking care not to damage anything.

A local forest officer who took note of the incident said: “The elephant was not hungry and was curious. It was perhaps drawn in by the smell and the lights. It is fortunate that it did not create a conflict situation.”

Coimbatore district witnesses frequent incidents of human-elephant conflicts.