A herd of elephants was found sleeping in the forest after stealing villagers’ homemade booze and getting drunk.

The bizarre incident took place in rural India where a herd consisting of 24 elephants came across home-brew alcohol made by residents of a village in Odisha.

According to the reports, the locals left several jars and pots of homemade alcoholic drink to ferment in the jungle as they traditionally do.

After returning to collect the pots, however, the villagers were stunned to find them all shattered to pieces and the alcohol gone.

Next to shards of clay from the broken pots were dozens of suspects – elephants who were sleeping tightly after getting drunk on the booze. Villagers have since claimed that the elephants were so drunk they weren’t able to wake them up when they found them.

It wasn’t until wildlife officials arrived at the scene and started beating on drums that the animals finally woke up and slowly walked away.

“We went into the jungle at around 6am to prepare muhua and found that all the pots were broken and the fermented liquor is missing,” a local, Naria Sethi, told PTI news agency.

“We also found that the elephants were sleeping. They consumed the fermented liquor and got drunk.”

While the incident turned out relatively well for everyone, things don’t always go as planned when alcohol is involved.

Previously, in April, a herd ‘addicted’ to mahua went on a frenzied search for homemade alcohol and killed five villagers in their search for the drink.

“They love it. It’s pure, it’s tasty, and it’s powerful,” Wildlife SOS chief Kartick Satyanarayan said in an interview with The Times.

“When they smell it, they can poke their trunks into kitchens or break down walls to get to it. Once finished, they stagger back home, toppling the odd tree or house on the way.”

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