A hungry wild elephant broke through a Buddhist shrine and stole offerings left by devotees for the gods.

Footage shows the lone male jumbo named Plai Tiger taking snacks from the religious structures intended for worship and meditation at Khao Yai National Park in Nakhon, Nayok province, Thailand on October 29.

Plai Tiger took with his trunk baskets of fruits, rice cakes and other food while park rangers stood nearby.

Tourist Seksan Srichan said: 'This time of the year is when mating happens, so the bull might have been looking for a mate when he passed by the shrine with food.

'He stopped by for snacks to refuel his energy. He is notorious in the area for running towards passing cars to get food.'

Plai Tiger went on his way after eating the food from the shrine but he did not damage anything.

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.

The main threats to wild elephants in Thailand are habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, and conflict with humans.

Buddhism is the official religion of Thailand where it was followed by more than 95 per cent of the population.