A safari tour in Pilanesberg’s National Park, South Africa, has left tourists startled after an irritated elephant shockingly lifted the truck that they were travelling on. An official from the National Park explained that the vehicle came ‘too close’ to the elephant as tourists wanted to take pictures, which is why ‘the animal got aggressive’.
Visitor Hendry Blom managed to capture a video of the frightening episode of the agitated elephant aggressively lifting the vehicle a couple of times off the ground as the tourists ducked between the seats inside the 22-seater truck.
Additionally, the driver could be heard in the clip yelling at the elephant to ‘go away’, as he slaps his hand against the side of the truck. Consequently, after a few scary lifts, the animal backs off and moves to the side, to which the driver reacts quickly yet calmly, and slowly reverses the vehicle away from the elephant’s direction. Blom told TV reporters: “We were definitely scared, especially for the people in the truck because we thought they might die.”
In a separate video, recorded from inside the truck, worried tourists could be seen clinging to the floor of the vehicle. The tour guide has been praised by wildlife experts. Ron Magill, the communications director at Zoo Miami, articulated that ‘anyone that’s worked with elephants will tell you when a bull like that charges, you don’t turn and run’.
“You need to make as much noise and stand your ground,” he added. The authorities confirmed that fortunately, no one was injured in the incident. One family, however, was offered counselling after being left ‘extremely rattled’