Table for one? Hilarious moment huge elephant decides to take a seat at a café – before marching off

The hilarious moment a huge elephant decided to take a seat and rest at a café near a safari camp in Africa has been captured on camera.

Simone Ruf spotted the animal having a rest at the camp in Zambia, and quickly snapped a picture of the animal, which can weigh up to three tons.

But it appears the male elephant was not best pleased with the service on offer as it soon marched off back into the wild – but not before snapping one of the table umbrella spokes as he made a swift exit.

Ms Ruf saw the hilarious moment at the Flatdogs Camp in the South Luangwa National Park, where she works.

‘First the elephant bull moved the umbrella around, then he decided to sit on the table’, she told the Daily Express. ‘It  looked like he wanted to use the table as a seat.

‘I think he was mostly just being naughty.

The animal was spotted having a quick rest at the Flatdogs Camp in the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia

But it appears the male elephant was not best pleased with the service on offer as it soon marched off back into the wild – but not before snapping one of the table umbrella spokes as he made a swift exit

‘No one else saw it – I was by myself. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing’, she added.

Elephants are regularly seen at the national park – a world-renowned wildlife haven which is known to locals simply as ‘the South Park’.

As well as herds of elephants, it also supports large populations of Thornicroft’s giraffe and African buffalo’s, sometimes several hundred strong.

Initially founded as a game reserve in 1938, it is now one of the best-known national parks in Africa, famed for its walking safari’s and covering 9,050 km.

But, although well-protected from poaches, its elephant population has previously been under serious pressure throughout its history.

It comes after the Natural History Museum London issued an invite to the public for people to vote for their favourite image highlighting important nature stories from around the world to win this year’s People’s Choice Award.

The funny and sometimes moving 25 images in the shortlist include two lionesses grooming a cub, a fox finding a home in a London bin, moon jellyfish glowing under the northern lights and a dragonfly landing on a turtle’s nose among others.