In the second such incident to emerge from South Africa in recent weeks, the country's national park authorities report that an elephant has overturned a tourist vehicle in the Kruger National Park. Fortunately, the occupants suffered only minor injuries.
On their way to a rest camp, the tourists stopped off at Sable Dam, a popular spot that overlooks a sleep-over hide, where animals tend to gather to drink. The elephant, believed to be in a heightened hormonal state called musth, was drinking water on the opposite side of the dam, when it suddenly walked through the water towards the vehicle and flipped it onto its roof.
“There was a second vehicle present which managed to distract the elephant by making a noise. It turned and went back into the bush,” added William Mabasa, Kruger National Park General Manager of Communications and Marketing.
“According to the tourists who were there, the elephant did not show any signs of agitation; we would like to appeal to the public to be on the look-out for them when driving in that area. Please ensure that you are not blocked by another vehicle when these huge animals approach, so that you can get away quickly when the need arises”, said Mabasa.
More than 1,5 million people visit the Kruger each year and incidents of this sort are rare, but not unheard of as elephants can toss and uproot trees with ease. According to The Citizen, there are no plans to put the elephant down.
Source: SANParks
Bad Behaviour
WTF!?
Animal Behaviour
