GERIK, Sept 8 — An elephant caused a stir when it went into a shop at the East-West Highway near the Banjaran Titiwangsa Rest Area in search of food.

A one-minute plus recording of the Sunday evening incident has since gone viral on social media.

Shop owner Azizan Aziz said he was in the middle of his Maghrib prayers when he heard noise from outside.

"Someone in the shop shouted an elephant had entered the shop,” he told Malay portal Harian Metro.

When he went to investigate the matter after completing his prayers, Azizan said customers were running all over the place to avoid the bull.

The male elephant, according to Azizan, was trying to grab food from the display area but failed as he had installed nettings.

Except for scaring some customers, Azizan said the elephant did not destroy any items in his shop nor did it behave violently.

The elephant later left Azizan"s shop for the nearest army camp, located about 200 meters away from his shop, before the arrival of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia Department (Perhilitan) rangers.

Azizan, who has been trading at the rest area for some two decades, said this was not the first time elephants were seen in the area.

"But this is the first time it entered a shop in search of food,” he said, expressing concern that the mammal might return again.

State Perhilitan director Yusoff Shariff told the portal that personnel from the department monitored the situation and chased it further into the forest.

Admitting that the elephants may return, he advised the people not to provoke it the next time it appears.

He also urged the people to stay away from the elephants and to contact Perhilitan immediately.