Being on the receiving end of a charge from any animal is not always going to be the most exciting experience, especially not from an animal as large and strong as an elephant.
Niel Van Der Walt caught this one on camera as it took aim at the safari vehicle, with the guide sitting very exposed up front. He sent the footage in to Latest Sightings.
They’re In The Trees
There were two elephants that burst out of the treeline at the side of the road and something had already agitated them. Whether this was the presence of the safari vehicles, or because they’d just had a bad day was unclear.
These are large and intelligent animals, and it’s quite possible that they had just been grazing on leaves and minding their own business when they realized the people were watching them and they became so annoyed that they decided to take action.
They did seem to be in a big hurry to cross the road and move to the other side, however, so they might have already been stressed when they emerged from the trees.
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Up Close And Personal
Whatever the reason was, this pair was not in the mood to mess around. The first to appear was several meters away, but the second came out of the trees much closer to the people watching.
The safari guide reversed their vehicle hurriedly when it became clear just how close this elephant was, and on top of that it charged even closer! With its ears spread wide and its trunk coiled, the elephant was making right for the vehicle before it broke off.
The huge animal came so close that the guide in his chair had to duck out of the way to make sure they elephant didn’t knock him out with one of its enormous tusks in passing, before it continued on its way.
A Real Fake Charge
If this elephant had wanted to make a serious problem for Niel and the rest of the group then it absolutely could have. instead, it was likely just warning them to keep their distance with a fake charge designed to scare them.
Obviously it’s alarming to see an animal as large as an elephant angrily thundering towards you, but a fake charge can be differentiated from a real one usually by looking at an elephant’s ears. If they elephant’s spreading them out to try and look big then it’s likely intimidation.
It goes without saying that it’s often not worth the risk of waiting to find out if the charge is real or not. Typically these animals will only charge like this if they feel threatened, so ideally no one would get close enough to trigger this behavior in the first place.
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The pair of elephants didn’t wait around long to see if their anger had paid off. The vehicle had retreated and that was good enough for them. Without a break in its step the elephant turned away from the safari vehicle and back to the trees.
With its fellow already gone, the elephant also forced its way between the branches of the trees, where it obviously found its way blocked as it reemerged for a short moment before diving back into the trees.
