Elephants are highly social animals, but they display a complex range of behaviours. Anyone who knows even a little about them, knows better than to approach an elephant flapping their ears in anger.
A driver found this out very quickly when an elephant rammed a vehicle several times causing major damage to the bonnet – not to mention the fear instilled in the unsuspecting driver.
The video, widely shared on social media, shows a cow elephant mock charging the vehicle at first as a warning to go away. It walked away and seemed to disappear before returning, then rushed the vehicle pummelling it several times with her trunk and tusks.
In general, this behaviour is not uncommon, especially if there are young elephants nearby. An elephant will usually flap their ears wildly, shake their head and begin trumpeting loudly to ward off danger. When this doesn’t work, they will charge and this could easily escalate to a fatal incident.
In the video, what you don’t see is the trailer on the vehicle which would make it exceptionally difficult for the driver to reverse quickly to avoid the elephant. Yes, the vehicle was in the elephant’s territory but they is very little the driver could do to avert this situation.
It is alleged that the incident occurred in the Klaserie River area in the Limpopo Province.
Luckily no one was hurt in the charging and the vehicle was later recovered and towed to safety.
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