Elephant robbing motorists

You must have heard of elephants sometimes running crazy, destroying crops and maybe humans as well. But in another sign of how closely we have managed to get wild animals to integrate their life style with us (not a very good sign), an elephant in India that has got old stops cars and does not let them pass until the inhabitants have given it food. Refer this article:

An elephant in eastern India has sparked complaints from motorists who accuse it of blocking traffic and refusing to allow vehicles to pass unless drivers give it food, a newspaper has reported.
The Hindustan Times said Monday the elephant was scouting for food on a highway in the eastern state of Orissa, forcing motorists to roll down their windows and get out of the car.
"The tusker then inserts its trunk inside the vehicle and sniffs for food," local resident Prabodh Mohanty, who has come across the elephant twice, was quoted as saying. "If you are carrying vegetables and banana inside your vehicle, then it will gulp them and allow you to go."

Yet another sign of how much the human civilization has encroached on the domain of wild animals, where the elephant has chanced upon this technique to get easy food. This is a very imperfect balance, because there is a very real chance that one of the car inhabitants will irritate the elephant, and then the situation could turn ugly.