A News24 Travel Reader recently submitted this rather hectic footage of an elephant rolling a Volkswagen Polo in the Kruger National Park.
Sarah Brooks and Jans de Klerk who were in the car were submitted to hospital after the elephant overturned their car a few times eventually pushing it off the road. The elephant’s tusks ripped through the back of Brooks’s upper thigh.
The travel reader who wanted to remain anonymous says it became clear the elephant was becoming agitated when it flapped its ears and mocked charged but the blue Polo kept driving and getting closer to the elephant, they may have been trying to pass the animal.
The Kruger Park National Park management (rather controversially) shot and killed the elephant to prevent it hurting other people but it has sparked an outcry on social media sites.
Blog.africageographic.com reports that at the time Kruger National Park spokesperson William Mabasa said people should not be quick to criticise the decision. “Our rangers reported that the same elephant bull had been involved in previous fights with other dominant bulls since it has been in musth phase.”
Despite the video footage, Mabasa says the park has no regrets. He believes the animal would have been put down irrespective as it was “unusually aggressive”, with visitor safety coming first – especially since numbers in the park are high during peak season.
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