A wild elephant held up traffic while sniffing through vehicles on a mountain road in Thailand.

Footage shows the male jumbo taking over a whole lane while cars and pick-up trucks stopped to let it pass by in Nakhon Nayok province on December 2.

The animal appeared to be searching for snacks among the cars as it extended its trunk towards them before leaving.

Motorist Sukka Sem said: 'It looked like it was calm but we were nervous when the elephant was near us. We didn't know what it was looking for. Maybe food.'

Thailand has an estimated 2,000 Asian elephants living in the wild but there is often conflict when they come into contact with humans on roads and in villages. A similar number of elephants are kept captive where they work in zoos and are hired out for religious festivals and weddings.