A recent encounter with a charging elephant left a few Kruger guides shaken, but a tragedy was averted through quick thinking and the guides calmly following correct protocols.
‘I believe that this recent incident happened in Northern Kruger near Pafuri,’ said safari lodge owner Marlon Lewinsky on Facebook.
‘These guides were just chilling under a tree having a picnic when out of the blue the day went a bit pear-shaped. Absolutely brilliant professionalism and composure, especially as to the fine line of not pulling the trigger.’
Sean Carter, the guide leading the safari, relayed his experience:
‘Devon Myers and myself (I’m the one in my slops) were leading a backpack trail in the north of the Kruger in the Makuleke Contractual Park. We have both been guiding there for many years.
‘We weren’t far from the spot we were going to sleep that night, and decided to have a break in the shade of two big Natal Mahogany trees. We were there for more than an hour, so some of the guys had unrolled their sleeping mats, and some were having their lunch, when one of the guests let Devon and me know that there was a large herd of elephants coming down to drink.
‘With the elephants up at Pafuri, you just never know what you are going to get, the bulls are usually quite relaxed but the breeding herds can be another story. The herds in this area cross frequently into Zimbabwe and Mozambique to raid crops, obviously not so fun for the villagers, so they often hurl spears, rocks and abuse at them meaning once the elephants return back to the Kruger they might just be fed up with humans. This herd had most likely come from Zim earlier that day.
‘In the video you will see that the herd is one initially and quite far away, we were strategically way off the big game path, and the first half of the herd followed the game path and passed us by, the second got our scent (wind was blowing straight to them) and this unsettled the herd, we wanted them to know exactly where we were (we were hidden in the shade) so that they could then choose to avoid us and go around. This wasn’t the case, as seen from the video and the large female at the back, she decided that she really wasn’t comfortable with us there and gave us a proper charge.
‘There have been a lot of comments on the various forums, firstly stating that we shouldn’t be in the elephants’ home. These are clearly people who are likely of the misconception that bouncing around in a car in the national parks doesn’t impact the animals and is somehow natural. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as humans we have been on foot in these areas for thousands of years, some might even say that the only true wilderness is one with people on foot in those areas. Don’t get me wrong, I love going on a game drive and exploring, but it definitely has more of an impact on the animals’ lives than a few people on foot.
‘The second common comment has been that because her ears were out, it was clear she wasn’t serious. This isn’t always the case, many a person has been flattened by an elephant charge where their ears were out. We spend hundreds of hours on foot in these amazing areas and it is experience that has taught us how to handle these situations. Including loading the rifle, just to be ready in case she did carry on. In this instance, the shouting and us not moving, is what made her change her mind and break off the charge.
Take a look.
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