Watch the sighting here:
Game ranger Dylan Royal captured the action on film and submitted his “match report” to Latest Sightings. He filmed it shortly after leaving Tengile River Lodge in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve.
Moving the goalposts
Dylan said that he had set off on his morning game drive hoping to find a leopard. However, after a short while, he came upon a breeding herd of elephants feeding.
He decided to postpone his leopard goal, in favour of watching the herd for a while. As you’ll see, he really scored with that decision.
Later he said there were several youngsters in the herd, but one in particular caught his attention. A young bull suddenly ran into the track before them, chasing his “ball” — a round piece of elehant dung.
Most popular sport in Africa
As anyone in Africa will tell you, soccer is wildly popular. Few realise that this obsession is shared by African elephants. Well… maybe just his one.
Subsequently, Dylan and his guests were treated to a full display of the future stars’ signature moves. He started with a backwards flick, bringing the ball into view.
Worldwide, coaches implore their younger players to keep their eye on the ball. It seemed this youngster was eager to impress, doing an excellent job of tracking its progress.
Dribbling skills
Next, it was time for the young prodigy to practice his dribbling skills. He did an amazing job of keeping the ball at his feet.
Because passing the ball is super important, next it was time to show off his reverse-pass. With surprising ease, the young elephant tapped it with the heel of his front foot — mission accomplished!
Hey ref!
Similarly, good communication with your team-mates and the match referee are important to practice. Having not quite mastered the use of his trunk, however, the youngster mostly just waggled it around a lot.
As it turned out, his appeal for foul play was approved, leading to a free kick being awarded.
Now concentrate
Having placed the ball just so, the elephant took his time preparing to strike.
Visualising the balls’ path, he gave it his full attention before commencing his run up.
Somehow, although he struck the ball just where he aimed, it didn’t travel as far as planned. Something to work on in the future.
Selling a dummy pass
In addition to passing, the ability to trick your opponent with a dummy pass is a useful skill. This, the youngster managed with ease.
With that, it appeared that the practice was over. Turning his attention to his adoring fans, he fanned his ears as if encouraging applause.
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Prima donna!
When the elephant moved off, Dylan decided to leave the area. However, it seems like there was one trick the elephant hadn’t practiced.
“As we drove past the abandoned ball, the little one came bursting and trumpeting out at us, kicking up sand and throwing a bit of a tantrum, until we left the area and his toy alone!” Typical!
The importance of play
As with humans, play is an important part of a young animals’ life. In the process, they learn many useful skills, such as dexterity and coordination.
While a lot of animal behaviour is instinctive, their individual personalities come to life in moments like this.