Standing up for himself! – Elephant stands up on its back legs to reach tree-top leaves

An elephant has been captured standing on his hind legs to reach tree-top leaves.

The majestic animal used its huge trunk to grab some juicy leaves from the tree, in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia, and stood on its back legs in order to reach the food.

This type of behaviour has rarely been captured on camera, but photographer Marcus Westberg, 34, was lucky enough to have caught this particular elephant in a unique moment.

Marcus, from Sweden, said: “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing – I thought it was crazy that this elephant was managing to stand on its hind legs to eat, and I couldn’t believe how huge he was when it was standing right in front of me.

“Although this type of behaviour from elephants is not unheard of, it’s not particularly common either, so I feel really lucky to have been able to see it for myself.

“Elephants are incredibly intelligent and sentient, and it’s wonderful to be able to spend time with them in the wild.”