A jaw-dropping video from Thiruvegappura village in Kerala’s Palakkad district has gone viral, showing an elephant single-handedly pulling a Toyota Fortuner SUV out of a river — and netizens can’t stop watching.

Shared on Instagram by user Saidokya90, the footage features a white first-generation Fortuner, partially stuck in the shallow river with the front left tyre submerged. Instead of calling in a crane, a rope was tied to the vehicle’s front tow hook — and the elephant grabbed it with its trunk and pulled with raw strength.

With a weight of over 2,100 kg (and a possible gross weight nearing 2,735 kg), the SUV wasn’t light — but that didn’t stop the elephant from yanking it back to dry land in a matter of moments. Viewers were left awestruck, flooding the video with comments like “It’s not horsepower, it’s elephant power.”

While the display of brute force amazed many, it also quietly reignited debates on animal use in labour. However, in this particular post, most focused on admiration rather than ethics.

This viral moment adds to a growing archive of elephants doing the unexpected — from breaking electric fences to blocking roads and demanding ‘toll’ from vehicles. Once again, Kerala’s beloved pachyderms have made headlines for all the right reasons — or at least, the most dramatic ones.