Posturing is incredibly important in the animal kingdom, and almost every animal with engage in this behavior at one point or another during their lives. For prey, it can be a matter of life and death, for predators it can determine if a fight even takes place.
For other animals, it can be an attempt to define territorial borders, or simply to force others into submission. Unfortunately, as in this case, posturing is more complex than simply being big.
Sonja Deutschendorff filmed this elephant’s intimidation attempt in the Kruger National Park, near Punda Maria, and sent the footage to Latest Sightings.
An Unstoppable Force
The enormous elephant approached the buffalo from a distance, moving slowly and menacingly. As the largest animals to walk the surface of our planet, these great creatures are more than capable of being intimidating, most of the time at least.
This one was certainly doing its best to convey that it was a threat. It had its ears flared out wide, which gives them the impression of being even bigger than they actually are.
Typically, elephants will combine this tactic with a false charge designed to make their opponent panic and flee, but this one might not have been feeling confident enough to attempt this.
Unfortunately, this slow and imposing approach clearly wasn’t quite as threatening as the elephant hoped, and the buffalo didn’t seem at all impressed with the attempt.
An Immovable Object
In the face of such a threat, the buffalo instead appeared to be completely unmoved. It didn’t step back, and it didn’t flinch. The brave buffalo stood its ground completely alone, without its herd for backup, and without any hesitation.
This is the importance of posturing, as the odds would be strongly in favor of the elephant if the two actually found themselves facing a physical conflict. The larger animal had the size and strength necessary to win out over the buffalo if it needed to.
But, in this confrontation, the strength of the elephant was worth little, and the confidence and posturing of the buffalo was what won it the victory. Unable to force the buffalo into a retreat, the elephant couldn’t maintain its bluff and turned away.
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A Little Bit Embarrassed
Size matters in the animal kingdom, where the bigger and scarier an animal can make itself, the less willing potential rivals might be to attack. But size still isn’t everything, with this buffalo proving that attitude can be just as important.
The vanquished elephant at least had the grace to look a little embarrassed as it turned away from the buffalo and slowly began heading back into the bush.
It seemed a little unsure what had just happened, or how to react to it as it retreated under the watchful eyes of the proud buffalo, which even now remained unmoved, just in case the elephant risked coming back. Clearly this elephant was going to have to adjust its tactics for the future.
