(Last Updated on September 22, 2015 by Editor)
ZIMBABWE – A video has emerged of another elephant attacking a tour vehicle in Zimbabwe – but the driver of the vehicle who appears to have recklessly followed the irritated animal may well be to blame.
The clip posted to You Tube by Frank Martin at the beginning of this month, opens with the angry-looking elephant warning off the vehicle.
As safari guests chatter excitedly in the back, the vehicle takes off across the sand towards the elephant, which trumpets and then charges.
For several seconds, there is the sound of screaming from the passengers and the noise of the elephant thrusting its tusks at the bars of the open vehicle. Then the elephant veers away from the vehicle while a guide gets out and points his gun.
“Don’t shoot him,” guests urge.
A man’s voice says: “Are you OK, people?
The caption to the video says it was taken in Gonarezhou National Park in dry southern Zimbabwe. It comes a few weeks after another video emerged showing an enraged bull charging a tour vehicle in Hwange National Park. The Hwange attack does not appear to have been provoked.
The video of the attack in Gonarezhou has provoked angry comments on social media, with some blaming the driver of the vehicle for following the animal.
Kruger National Park Accommodation said in a post to Facebook earlier this month: “We might have some careless visitors in our parks, but at least our guides aren’t this reckless!”
Zimbabwean guide Quinn Swales was attacked and killed by a lion he was tracking with guests in Hwange earlier this month. There was no suggestion he behaved recklessly.