Having a vehicle full of tourists appear out of the bush to stare and point cameras is something which some animals are able to shake off as only a mere annoyance, but which others might decide to do something about.
Maintaining a safe distance from wild animals is imperative on a safari, which Mark Fox did while getting this footage, but this elephant still decided to take action.
Thankfully, and amusingly, rather than trying to charge the vehicle, this elephant came to the conclusion that its best option was to simply hide behind the closest tree.
A Master Of Camouflage
For the largest land animal on the planet, elephants have a remarkable ability to stay quiet and unseen, especially if they’re lucky enough to be on the smaller side. It might seem impossible for an animal of such size to hide itself, especially in a relatively open area.
But this elephant didn’t care about what was possible when it concealed itself behind a tree that was the perfect size to keep it out of sight. At the beginning of the footage it wasn’t even clear that there was an elephant there at all.
There was a faint grey smudge visible through the leaves that looked like a shadow that the bushiness of the tree cast behind it, up until the elephant’s ear flickered out from behind it, being the only thing to reveal its presence.
Camera Shy Behemoth
While those who haven’t encountered an elephant in the wild before might not be aware of their surprising stealth abilities, most people will have heard of their emotional intelligence.
Elephants are famous for being both clever animals, and empathetic ones with experiences that go through an entire range of emotions. Whether this one was feeling annoyed at a perceived intrusion, or if it was just having a shy moment is unknown.
While it might not know exactly what the cameras are, this elephant would have known the tourists were pointing something in its direction, and it decided that it was safer and less bothersome for it to simply step behind the handy tree.
Angry Or Just Hungry?
Because the tree almost completely obscured the elephant, it wasn’t exactly clear what it was up to. After the ear, its tail could be seen flickering out from behind the tree once or twice, before the tree itself began shaking rather violently.
There seems to be two possible explanations for this. The elephant would have been fully aware of the vehicle of tourists poised just the other side of the tree, and might have been shaking it in an attempt to intimidate them into leaving it alone.
Of course this elephant might not have been in a bad mood at all, and instead of trying to scare the tourists, it might have just been enjoying a quick snack instead while it waited for them to move on.
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Tear It All Down
The elephant’s stealthy escapade came to an end when it apparently got so fed up of the situation that it decided to collapse its own tree. The violent shaking increased, until the tree fell to the ground revealing the elephant standing behind it.
What followed this was an awkward moment wherein the elephant, realizing it was now without any shelter, stood for a moment looking at the vehicle before turning and moving on.
If the elephant had felt truly threatened by the presence of the tourists, it might have undertaken a false charge, or used other methods to try and scare them away. It’s incredible important to remember that these are wild and unpredictable animals.
