Elephant snaps selfie with GoPro and becomes internet sensation

An enterprising – or just efficient – elephant has apparently snapped a selfie with a Canadian tourist’s GoPro camera.

Christian LeBlanc told CNN he approached the animal on a Thai island earlier this year when he and his girlfriend were on holiday.

“For 50 cents, you could buy a basket of bananas to feed them, so we decided to get one,” he said.

But apparently this particular elephant wasn’t entirely satisfied with just the fruit offering.

Mr LeBlanc claims the animal “grabbed” the GoPro camera with its trunk - which it then extended – and began taking photos.

“Next thing I knew, it grabbed my GoPro by the mount, and I got the selfie of a lifetime, which I can’t take full credit for,” he said.

As GoPro cameras are set to photograph continuously, the experience provided Mr LeBlanc with a generous series of images snapped by the larger mammal.

He even went as far to suggest it may have been a deliberate action.

“Elephants are incredibly intelligent, and it definitely makes you wonder if it was a conscious action,” he said.

But it appears the elephant is not so special.

Last year, an African elephant at a British safari park also took a "selfie" when he picked up a dropped mobile phone.

The phone's owner, Scott Brierley, said he believed the animal picked up the phone with its trunk believing it to be food.