Intimidation is a risky game, often being a last ditch attempt to prevent a situation from escalating into a proper fight. This elephant and buffalo were doing their best to intimidate each other, until the elephant just decided to escalate it anyway.
Wendy Claase filmed the entire altercation at Sabi Sabi, from stand off to kick, and sent the footage to Latest Sightings. It seemed like a classic case of what not to do from the elephant’s side.
A Big Old Standoff
The buffalo and elephant had already met each other at the beginning of Wendy’s footage, and they were not getting along well. It was unclear who was more annoyed by who, but their interaction was not friendly.
Buffalo typically have size and weight on their side when it comes to a fight against other animals, but in this case the elephant negated that advantage by being the largest land animal on the planet.
This elephant was more than confident enough to stand its ground against the buffalo and refused to let the other creature push it back. Another member of the elephant herd watched on from the background in case it needed to step in.
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Initiate Intimidation Tactics
Both animals were doing their best to intimidate the other and force it to back down. This outcome would be vastly preferable for both of them than a physical fight.
An actual battle could result in injuries and animals in the wild can’t exactly get antibiotics if they need them, so instead the buffalo lowered its head to show off its horns.
In response the elephant tried to make itself look as big as possible, spreading its ears out wide and raising its trunk in the air, both of them trying to convince the other that escalating the situation just wasn’t worth it for them.
Straight Out Of The Left Field
For a moment, it looked like the elephant was going to come out on top in the intimidation game. The buffalo hadn’t completely backed down but it was clearly starting to rethink its decisions.
It had turned away a little and given up some ground, enough that if the elephant had kept it up then it might have come out on top. The big elephant even moved closer to reduce the gap between them, coming very close to a second buffalo in the herd that was laying down.
Rather than keep using the same tactics that were clearly starting to work, the elephant then decided to hit that prone buffalo with a kick, with seemingly no provocation.
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Whoops
If the elephant had been trying to make the buffalo get to its feet it certainly succeeded, and it knew that it had messed up. The buffalo rose quickly and immediately charged the elephant, catching it in the back legs as it tried to hurry away.
It didn’t look like the buffalo managed to do any serious damage and the elephant awkwardly hobbled away trying to regain its balance. Whatever lead the elephants had built up in the intimidation game however was now sacrified.
Cowed slightly, the elephant took cover behind a small bush, whereas the buffalo herd now stood more confidently, knowing they’d already fought off one of the bigger animals, and ready for more if needed.
