A group of tourists in South Africa got the scare of a lifetime when an elephant approached their safari truck and lifted the front end of it into the air earlier this week. Note to self: do not piss off elephants.
This all happened on March 18 in Pilanesberg National Park, an area northwest of Johannesburg, according to ABC7. A group of local South African tourists were in the area when they got too close to the elephant bull in an effort to take better pictures. That’s when the big fell got aggressive and approached the safari truck.
Videos taken by people on and off the truck showed the elephant lifting the front wheels of the vehicle off the ground with its tusks before letting it drop to the ground. As you may have imagined, a great deal of screaming can be heard in the video. You can see the guide backing the truck up and slamming his hands to try and convince the elephant to stop, but that very much did not work.
Eventually, the guide reportedly got out of the truck to chase the elephant away. That moment wasn’t captured on video, but I’m going to assume it worked since no one is dead. In fact, nobody was even hurt by the encounter with the big boy, but the park offered counseling for those who were rattled by what happened.
Here’s a little explainer of why the elephant may have acted the way it did, from ABC7:
The tour operator Mankwe Game Trackers told ABC News they understand the elephant was in musth, a periodic state of the bull elephant characterized by aggressive behavior and a surge of testosterone levels.
Fellas, we’ve all been there, haven’t we? OK, on a serious note, please leave elephants alone. They do not fuck with you.