Outrage after tourist filmed pouring beer down elephant’s trunk in Laikipia

The man posted a clip on Instagram of himself drinking from a can of Tusker, a Kenyan beer, and giving the rest to the elephant.

Several investigations have now been launched against the tourist, who captioned the now-deleted video: “Just a tusker with a tusked friend.”

In another video, the man is seen feeding two elephants with carrots and saying: “We are on beer time.” The videos, posted by skydive_kenya on Instagram, have since been deleted after spate of furious comments from enraged viewers.

The man, a self-identifying “adrenaline junkie”, posted more footage on Monday where he feeds rhinos with carrots at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

The elephant clip was filmed at the Ol Jogi Conservancy, a wildlife sanctuary in the county of Laikipia.

The video got hundreds of comments from indignant Kenyans angered by yet another case of tourists disturbing the country’s protected wildlife.

A staff member told the BBC they were shocked by the behaviour, saying: “This should never have happened. We're a conservation and we can't allow that to happen. We don't even allow people to go near the elephants."

They told the broadcaster that the video would be handed over to the relevant authorities.

A comment on one of the man’s Instagram posts said: “Are you the now world-famous imbecile who gave beer to the elephant (or else pretended to do it, an equally moronic thing to do)? Congratulations!”

Dr Winnie Kiiru, a Kenyan biologist and elephant conservationist, said: “About 95 per cent of elephants in Kenya are wild and it is wrong to have social media posts that give the impression that you can get close to the elephants and feed them,” according to the BBC.

The animal in the video is believed to be Bupa, a male elephant who was rescued from an elephant cull and brought to the sanctuary at eight years old in 1989.

Staff member Dylan Habil told the BBC: "He has also broken our rules because he was not supposed to touch the rhinos because they are not pets.”

One comment on the video said: “You can’t hide what you are doing and you are not welcome in Kenya. Shame on you. Disgusting behaviour!”

Ol Jogi Conservancy has since been in touch to confirm the incident occurred last year at the privately owned wildlife sanctuary - saying it was "unacceptable, dangerous and completely against our values".

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) was also investigating the matter, the agency's spokesperson Paul Udoto told the BBC.

"(The elephant) is cared for closely by our team as an ambassador for conservation," the wildlife sanctuary said in a statement, adding that it treated cases like that involving the beer stunt "extremely seriously" and remained committed to ensuring the well-being and dignity of the animals in its care.

The incident comes barely a week after a group of tourists was filmed blocking migrating wildebeest at Kenya's Maasai Mara during the annual wildlife migration - one of the world's greatest wildlife spectacles.

The viral footage showed visitors jumping out of safari vehicles, crowding riverbanks and forcing wildebeests into crocodile-infested waters - sparking outrage.

Following the incident, the tourism and wildlife ministry announced stricter rules, directing tour operators to enforce park rules by ensuring visitors remain inside vehicles except in designated areas.