Rampaging elephant flips canoes in Okavango Delta, strikes British tourist with trunk
This is the terrifying moment when two couples from the UK and the US narrowly escaped death as a charging elephant overturned their safari canoes and struck one of the women with its trunk.
They were being poled ’gondola style’ through the shallow waters of the Okavango Delta, Botswana, on Saturday.
However, their guides brought them too close to a female elephant and her two calves, which led to the bull elephant of the herd charging through the shallow waters and reeds in a fierce attack.
A dramatic footage shows the guides desperately back-poling in an attempt to get away from the charging bull as it closes in, using its trunk and tusks to flip over two canoes.
The four tourists on both canoes were tipped into the crocodile-infested waters of the Delta while their two guides appeared to abandon them and run for the safety of the riverbank.
The elephant initially appeared to have stopped its charge, but a second video shows it returning to attack one of the female tourists.
It painfully struck its victim from behind with its trunk, missing her with both tusks, but knocking her underwater.
It is believed she only survived because the elephant lost sight of her under the murky water and was unable to finish her off by stomping on her, stopping its attempt after 10 seconds.
With his herd safely past the terrified tourists, the bull considered its job done, turned around, and followed them, leaving the woman underwater.
She managed to get to her knees and take desperate breaths of air before standing up as her husband waded to her, grabbed her hand, and guided her to the safety of the bank.
A former South African game ranger who was shown the videos said: ’They had a very lucky escape indeed because all four could just as easily have been killed by that angry bull.
’The woman was lucky not to have been gored. If it had held her down for another few seconds, she might have drowned, so she can praise the Lord it didn’t happen.
’There are thousands of these dug-out traditional Makoro canoes on the Delta, poling tourists through the reeds to view elephants, hippos, birds, antelope, and crocodiles.
’This bull attacked because it was protecting its young, and it seems the guides misjudged how close they could safely take the tourists, making a potentially fatal mistake.
’There could well have been the need for four body bags if Lady Luck had not favored them. It will certainly give them a story to tell around the fire for many years to come.’
Kakwele Sinyina said: ’Yo! If the elephant didn’t get them, there are many crocodiles and big hippos there that could have killed them, so they had someone looking over them.’
The elephant attack occurred on World Tourism Day on Saturday.
Three companies that operate Makoro tourist canoes on the Delta declined to comment on who organized the trip, but one receptionist said: ’It was a group made up of British and American visitors.
’There was a lot of expensive camera equipment and phones lost or damaged, but it is a blessing nobody was badly hurt, though wild animals can be very unpredictable,’ she said.
In July, a group of British tourists also got more than they expected on a Delta safari when their boat skipper took them too close to a female with her calf.
The 5-ton enraged female attacked, trumpeting her anger, and the boat’s engine appeared to cut out as it quickly closed the gap, attempting to flip it with her tusks.
The aluminum flat-bottomed boat was lifted skywards, throwing tourists off their seats as it almost turned over, but her tusks lost their grip on the hull and slipped off.
Once the female felt the threat was over, she ended the charge and returned to her calf. There are thousands of elephants in the Delta, which draws two million tourists a year.
Technology & Business Editor
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