These two elephants decided to give the guests at the Rockfig Safari Lodge a show when they came to blows right next to the pool in a spectacular display of strength.
Without even needing to leave the lodge, the guests were able to see the herd of elephants grazing in the background as the two upstarts battled it out right in front of them.
Nicole de Bruyn caught the altercation on camera while staying at the Rockfig Safari Lodge on the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve in Hoedspruit, and sent her footage in to Latest Sightings.
Poolside Entertainment
Although their size, intelligence and empathy might give elephants the impression of being gentle giants, they are just as capable as any other animal at being violent, destructive and dangerous.
Exactly what caused this fight to break out is unknown. It could have been anything from a squabble to the available food escalating to blows, or an attempt by a younger elephant to reestablish itself in the hierarchy of the herd.
For Nicole, the spectacle was front and center as the battling elephants attacked each other so close to the lodge while the rest of the herd carried on with their lunch, seemingly uninterested in who would be the victor.
Big Ears And Big Forces
Being the largest land animals to walk the surface of our planet, these elephants have a lot of weight they can summon, on top of their strength, when it’s time to teach something else a lesson.
Before the colossal clash takes place, and during the actual fight as well, both elephants attempt to make themselves look as big as possible, and the main way they try to achieve this is through their ears.
Puffing themselves up only gets them so far, by flapping their large ears out as far as they will go, the elephants can make themselves appear to be larger and more intimidating in an attempt to scare their opponent into backing down, or breaking off the fight.
An Embarrassing Way To Lose Face
In this case, with the two elephants already locked together tusk to tusk and trying to force each other back, the purpose of the big ears was an attempt by both elephants to convince their opponent that it wasn’t worth it to continue the fight.
This appeared to be successful when one of the elephants, that was steadily being pushed back by the other, seemed to attempt to disengage from the fight and retreat.
Let’s hope that this wasn’t a battle for this elephant to elevate its position in the hierarchy, because the first thing it did when it turned to fall back was fall over.
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No Running Next To The Pool
So close to the lodge’s pool, the elephant was lucky that it didn’t hit its head on the stone. It was also lucky that it was able to scramble back to its feet before its opponent pursued it out of sight from Nicole.
If it had been attempting to prove itself to other members of the herd, or trying to defend itself against a younger upstart, then surely this was the quickest way to fail.
For the guests staying at the safari lodge, it was certainly a treat to see these amazing animals giving them a show right on their doorstep, although Nicole did report it was a little scary seeing such large animals fighting like this.