Prince William warned an elephant she would get a “runny tummy” if she ate too many carrots!

The Duke of Cambridge – or Prince William, or W-Dogg to you and us – found himself giving a rescued elephant some advice on a visit to a Chinese sanctuary during his tour of East Asia.

Ran Ran, a 13-year-old rescued female Asian elephant, ate basket after basket of carrots while hanging with the prince, prompting him to give her a word of warning.

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“You’re going to get indigestion”, the prince warned Ran Ran - also known as Greedy Guts.

After another basket full of carrots was gobbled down like no one's business, he added: “You’re going to get a runny tummy.”

Someone's obviously eaten too many carrots in one sitting before...

Endangered elephants

The elephant sanctuary is the only one in Yunnan province where around 250 animals still live in the wild.

The elephant population has come into conflict with rural communities who have tried to stop elephants raiding their crops, but they have now adopted a different approach by changing the crops they produce.

However, elephants are still widely hunted for their valuable ivory tusks.

The illegal trade in ivory is something William has campaigned over – through his organisation United for Wildlife – in order to raise awareness among the Chinese, who are a huge consumer of the product.

A royal source has said that during William’s talks with China’s president Xi Jinping earlier this week, wildlife protection and the illegal trade in ivory was raised by the Duke.

William highlighted the need for recognition of the threats to endangered animals from poachers, saying: “It’s very important that the issue around illegal wildlife trade and everything else is understood and educated to everybody. So I really appreciate the effort you have made to look into the details and everything else.”

The Duke was joined by celebrated Chinese wildlife photographer and conservationist Xi Zhinong, who talked him through a display of animals he had photographed in the jungle, from the native elephants to monkeys, cranes and even the endangered pangolin.

William told him: “What you do with your pictures is to help education and conserve the natural world for the next generation. Your work is remarkable.

“The quality of your work is such that it must take a lot of patience to achieve.”

William’s visit to the elephant sanctuary came at the end of a seven-day tour of Japan and China.