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A fed-up mamma elephant charged a group of careless tourists who drifted too close to its babies in Botswana’s wetlands and trampled a blundering woman, nearly drowning her, wild footage shows.
A group of Americans and Brits was on a safari canoe tour through the country’s waterways Saturday when their flotilla crept near young elephants — angering the several-ton mother, the Telegraph reported.
Footage captured by fellow safari-goers and obtained by the outlet shows the female elephant suddenly pivoting on the group as they waded ever closer to its family.
The tour guides frantically tried to back-pedal the canoes — known as mokoros, but it was too late as the elephant was practically upon them in an instant.
The massive animal knocked its trunk against the closest two canoes, sending the tourists overboard, according to the video.
The elephant was beginning to walk away when it trampled a soaked tourist who was attempting to wade through the water. The woman was briefly held under the water as the giant sifted through the water with its trunk, the scary footage shows.
The hulking tusker, seemingly satisfied with the message it sent, wandered back over to its herd and left with its young as if nothing had happened, according to the clip.
The woman was rattled, but unscathed.
“She was incredibly lucky. Had the elephant held her down for a few more seconds, or gored her with its tusks, the outcome would likely have been fatal,” a former South African game ranger who reviewed the footage told the Daily Mail.
Much of the crew’s personal electronics, including cameras and phones, were wrecked, according to the safari’s staff.
In Africa, the gargantuan adult elephants, which can weigh up to seven tons and stand at more than 12 feet high, only have one true predator threatening their lives: humans.
Hunting has ravaged elephant populations globally as selfish poachers defy international laws to harvest the species’ ivory-rich tusks.
Many countries have either banned elephant hunting or placed restrictions on imported harvests.
Botswana, which lifted its ban on elephant hunting in 2019, is home to one-third of the entire elephant population. Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi previously insisted loosening the restrictions was key after successful conservation efforts led to a population boom.
