PICKING a fight with an elephant while drunk was probably not the best decision this man has ever made.

An intoxicated man began antagonising the elephant by lying down in front of it, before climbing down the bank until he was standing directly in front of the animal.

media_camera The man climbs down the bank and comes face to face with the elephant

The elephant appears to lose its temper and rushes towards him, causing him to fall over.

Concerned onlookers scream out in the background, telling him to get away from the elephant.

According to translations at LiveLeak, the people say “Hey idiot, are you crazy? What the f*** are you doing?”

Another person screams that a man had been killed by the elephant a few days before.

After the injured man is pulled up the bank, another onlooker said: “We told these mother f**kers to take him to the van, f**king a**holes take him to a hospital now.”

The footage was captured at Udawalawe National Park in Sri Lanka, which houses a herd of about 250 permanent resident elephants.