Photo WWF
A Close Encounter with African Elephants
By Dr Khalid Siddiqui
Ohio
One animal I have been most afraid of in Africa is the elephant. They are intimidatingly huge. They appear to walk slowly but their one step is equal to four human steps, so they can approach you very quickly. Then, waving their trunk, they have the habit of abruptly turning towards you . The guides, however, don’t feel that way because they think that their behavior is predictable. They are scared of cape buffaloes on land and hippos in the water. I am posting here several short videos of close encounters with the elephants.
Botswana: Chobe National Park, 2000
Chobe National Park is located in the north close to the Caprivi Strip where four countries (Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia) meet at one point. I had gone to Chobe with my son in 2000 after watching a video clip of a trip by President Clinton and Hilary Clinton who had been there a few months earlier. Chobe has one of the highest concentrations of elephants in Africa. We saw very few in the morning. After lunch, when the other tourists had remained at the camp for the afternoon nap, our driver Jacob offered us an extra trip if we wanted, which we gladly accepted. (The drivers of these reservations are happy to drive you around rather than sit at the camp.) There, usually, is not much activity in the afternoon. We soon came across some elephants. Jacob switched off the car, turned around facing us, and told us to enjoy the elephants.
One after another the elephants (mostly females, some with calves) kept on coming. Some would come too close, shake their head, wave their trunk, and then backed off. It was a very unnerving and scary experience. After ten minutes I told Jacob that I was getting worried and that we should leave. He said that the sound of starting the car then would have startled the elephants. He became quite upset with me for asking to leave. He said that he had enough experience to predict the elephants’ behavior, and that he wouldn’t have put his guests in harm’s way.
He gave me a lecture of trusting the guide’s judgement. He advised me just to enjoy myself, not move too much and keep quiet. Despite all the nervousness, I was still able to take a short video clip. The elephants were so close to us that my son’s blue cap could be seen in some of the shots. After forty-five minutes or so the whole herd left. Watch the video.
https://youtu.be/Lou0V5JRaQ8
Few months later I read an article in the Conde Nast magazine written by a tourist about his experience with the elephants. His group was in a similar situation, i.e., surrounded by a herd of elephants. The guide, switched off the jeep, poured coffee into a cup from the thermos, and started sipping it. All of a sudden, one elephant turned around and stabbed him in the chest with its tusk. A panic set in. Because of the panic the elephants fled. The tourists tried to take care of the guide. One of them called the camp, but couldn’t provide their exact location. (The driver/guide always informs before leaving the camp of the general area that he is planning to cover on that trip, but the exact pathway can’t be given beforehand.) No tourist could have been able to drive the jeep back to the camp themselves. (Riding as a passenger on the winding road with no fixed landmarks, after a few twists and turns, you lose the sense of direction. Also, the tourists concentrate on the animals rather than the road.) After some time, help did arrive but it was a little too late for the guide.
The bottom line is that these animals are wild and unpredictable. An experienced guide could also make a fatal mistake. Only in South Africa another person with a gun, called tracker, accompanies the driver/guide. But I haven’t seen trackers in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana safaris. In East Africa they are not needed because the parks are so crowded that it is more like a jeep parade rather than a wildlife safari.
Zambia: South Luangwa National Park, 2009
Zambia is a less-publicized safari destination. So, its game reserves are small and less crowded with excellent lodges. It has a huge population of wildlife in a pristine setting. That trip was my son’s college graduation gift from me. We got a well-experienced guide, Petros. We came across an elephant wandering alone aimlessly. He drove up to, and stopped too close to the elephant. I can be heard on the video registering my concern, but he was not concerned. Suddenly, the elephant charged. It was stopped only because of some bushes and tree branches between us. Petros still didn’t move. He said that he could tell from the elephant’s mannerism, i.e. movement of his ears and trunk, that it was only a mock charge! He was right. The elephant stood there for some time, then walked away. Watch the video.
https://youtu.be/ip55_QmCCOA
Botswana Okavango Delta: Kwetsani Camp, 2010
Okavango River originates in Angola and then flows south. Passing through the Caprivi Strip of Namibia, it enters the northern part of Botswana. There, it forms an inland delta. Some amount of water is evaporated and the rest is absorbed by the parched land of Botswana. The river never flows into an ocean – the largest river in the world to do so. The delta supports a large number of land animals, reptiles, and birds. Our guide was Tony. We saw a big male elephant crossing the grassland at some distance. Tony switched off the engine and started watching the elephant. The elephant suddenly turned around and moved towards us. Tony seemed frightened, and immediately turned the car on, and drove it in reverse as fast as he could until he arrived at a safe distance from the elephant. The elephant stopped. I was surprised by his reaction because the elephant was not all that close. Tony said that this male elephant was in ‘musth’, a condition at a certain time of the year when their hormone levels are high. He could tell by the flapping of his ears; and the swelling behind the eyes secondary to the enlarged temporal glands. In that condition the males are very aggressive and unpredictable. Ultimately, the swollen glands start secreting oily fluid which looks like sweat, but the African elephants don’t have sweat glands. The Asian elephants have sweat glands only in the cuticle of their toenails! Watch the video.
https://youtu.be/roxob5SGqfM
There were several palm trees near our cabins. The local elephants were very fond of palm fruit. They had figured out that by shaking the palm tree the ripe fruits would drop to the ground. So, periodically they would come to shake the tree and eat the palm fruit. An elephant’s digestive system is very inefficient. Very little gets digested and most of what they eat is excreted in the dung. The elephants, therefore, have to eat for 16 hours a day. Their dung is routinely explored by the monkeys and birds for the undigested food. We happened to be there when one of the elephants arrived to check out the palm tree. The guide, Tony, explained how the natural fruit looked like, and what all has been excreted. Watch the video.
https://youtu.be/CIxREt730EQ
