This is the amusing moment an elephant being transported was caught stealing sugarcane from a nearby truck.

The trucker spotted the ravenous tusker grabbing the stalks from another lorry while they were waiting at a red light in Surin, Thailand.

Footage shows the sweet-toothed pachyderm extending its trunk onto a pile of fresh sugarcane loaded in the cargo bed on January 21.

The mahout onboard, who also witnessed the incident, said the sugarcane truck driver did not seem to mind the elephant helping itself to some of the crop.

Their journey then continued with the elephant happily munching on the stolen juicy reeds during the trip.

Elephants are known for their voracious appetite. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found need to eat up to 150kg of food per day - the equivalent of 375 tins of baked beans.

Conservationists in Thailand say that wild elephants - up to 3,500 of them - have even developed a taste for human food and prefer to rummage through homes and vehicles for snacks, instead of the bland leaves they find in the forest.