Girl stops elephant in its tracks with her hand

A fearless young girl has lived out her very own David and Goliath appearing to stop an elephant in its tracks with just her bare hand.

The girl came face-to-face with the pachyderm on a rural highway, and rather than shy away from the risk of being trampled, held up her arm commanding the animal to stop.

She walked towards the elephant with her arm up, causing it to back away and retreat into the undergrowth.

The encounter is believed to have happened in Sri Lanka.

Video of the young ‘elephant whisperer’ has been viewed more than 10,000 times since being uploaded earlier this week.