Elephant charge
We stopped to look at peaceful breeding herd when the matriach took offence...
She trumpeted once, then with the sun behind her, turned and charged
Forget all about "They only mean it when their ears are laid back."
This lady meant it, no question
She was coming at full speed towards the side of our open vehicle, which is where I happened to be sitting
These last two shots were taken about a second apart
At this point she was about 20 feet away and I was about to move to avoid contact with her tusks
Not that it would have mattered much as she would have just turned the vehicle over
Nick, our driver stood up and yelled at her - very loudly
She stopped dead in her tracks
We then started the engine and drove off fast with three others in pursuit
All photographs copyright © Jonathan Neville 2008 |