It's not every day you cross paths with an Angry Elephant !
We were driving through Tagala Game Reserve in South Africa, when we came across this guy. Tagala is a 22,000 acre private animal sanctuary, that is fenced on 3 sides and the 4th opens onto the legendary Kruger National Park. As such there is a wide variety of animals living and roaming freely in this area. We were up before dawn, and had already seen several rhino's when we came around a corner and this massive bull elephant was right there.
A Big, Angry, Bull Elephant
Why So Angry ?
Now, I don't know if we startled him or if he was in a state of Musth, where a male's testosterone levels can spike by up to 60 times. Our driver/ranger was calm and told us all to remain seated and calm also. Seemed like a good idea to me. The elephant swung its head around wildly as you can see in the picture, and made a few small charges towards us. It didn't trumpet, but was making some agitated grunting sounds. After a few half charges, it then stopped for a moment, and our driver slowly backed our vehicle away. Keep in mind we are feeling rather exposed in an open-topped Landrover. We then sat still for a few moments and the elephant seemed to realize that we were not a threat nor were we a mate.
The large male then turned and walked along the track in front of us. You will notice that as it walked, it kept it's trunk hooked over its tusks. This is also a sign of aggression, and was taken as a sign to give him space. we obliged.
The trunk is laid across his tusk to show aggression
As it continued to walk away, it seemed to visibly cool down, and lowered its trunk back to the normal position and ambled off into the sunset.
The trunk lowers as it calms down
When it was far enough away, we all breathed a sigh of relief and to lessen the tension a bit, one of the South Africans with us, told me he would kiss it on the bum. As you see from this picture, it certainly lightened our mood.
What does Elephant taste like?
The rest of the morning passed without incident and we saw a great variety of wildlife including giraffe, hyena, and even some sleeping lions. While I was never really fearful, I did respect the size and power of the elephant. When we got back we had a good laugh about our encounter with an angry elephant. It was an unforgettable morning.
Our Landrover Safari Vehicle
Click here to:
So, what does the elephant taste like? You almost found out, yeah? Thanks for posting -
STEEM ON!!
Apparently it tastes like chicken :p
That's funny! Glad you don't know for sure.
That elephant can flip the Land Rover upside down in an instant. It's really the only scary thing that you will encounter. My only similar experience was also in South Africa, the bull came out of the bushes, wasn't pleased to see us at all, started to shake his head and the ranger was like "F#$@ this, we are out of here" jammed it into reverse and we left promptly in the backwards direction. The guns they carry are called Elephant stoppers for a reason, but the last thing the ranger wants is an upside down land rover, and a recently shot dead, bleeding elephant... not sure what would get you first the Hyenas or the Lions.
You have brought back great memories of the only time i saw a ranger remotely "worried".
thats a squeeky bum moment for sure