A hungry baby elephant tried to eat a car parked at an animal camp in Thailand.

The five-month-old jumbo named Tharin spotted the red sedan while roaming the property and began trying to bite some of its parts at the Patara Elephant Farm in Chiang Mai on June 13.

Heartwarming footage shows the elephant using its trunk to sniff around the bonnet of the vehicle and opening its mouth wide motioning to take a bite.

It was asked by the caretaker to stop but the animal seemed fascinated with the red car and licked around it.

Caretaker Toonnie Danaya said: ‘Tharin loved to hang out near cars. He was like a little boy but didn't know what they're for.'

Thailand has up to 3,500 elephants in the wild. The population has been increasing in recent years, but it is still a fraction of the estimated 300,000 wild elephants that lived in the country at the beginning of the 20th century. Some of the elephants live in conservation camps, which are facilities that rescue, rehabilitate, and provide sanctuary for them.