Watch: Wild elephant chases safari vehicle as visitors scream; IFS officer urges 'respectful behavior'
Elephants are the largest mammals on Earth, and they possess immense strength. Despite this, they prefer to live calmly in the jungle without harming other wildlife, earning them the endearing title of "gentle giants." Rarely do wild elephants charge at humans without any reason.
These peace-loving creatures are generally calm but may exhibit aggression in certain situations. They have brilliant hearing capabilities and are sensitive to sounds, especially high-pitched ones, which can cause them to panic.
Indian Forest Service officer Susanta Nanda, known for sharing captivating wildlife videos on social media, recently posted a video clip of a full-grown tusker. In his post, he urged people to "behave as humans during the jungle safari."
The clip shows visitors recording videos of a wild elephant during a safari ride. As the elephant approaches the safari vehicle, the visitors become panicked and ask the driver to speed away. The commotion startles the elephant, causing it to chase the vehicle while the visitors scream in fear. Eventually, the tusker ceases its pursuit and disappears into the wilderness.
Watch here.
If one is so afraid of seeing an elephant in a safari vehicle, why do they venture into the forest & yell so loudly?
— Susanta Nanda (@susantananda3) May 10, 2023
Behave as humans & be sober & humble in jungle safaris. pic.twitter.com/6EeLROSy94
Nanda's video serves as a reminder to his followers that if they are frightened by the sight of an elephant, perhaps they should reconsider going on a safari and avoid causing disturbances in the jungle.
“Behave as humans & be sober & humble in jungle safaris,” he wrote in the caption while sharing the video clip on Twitter.
Since being shared the clip has accumulated over 30,000 views and received more than 700 likes. When a Twitter user asked the IFS officer that did the elephant charged the visitors because of their screaming, he replied yes the ‘yelling was the cause of it getting irritated’.
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Other Twitter users blamed the safari van driver, saying that there is no reason to stop the van in that place.
Here are some interesting comments.
Just curious, do you think their yelling inspired the elephant to charge the vehicle?
— Pete Thomas (@Pete_Thomas) May 10, 2023
Safari DRIVER should be responsible for SILENCE. All vehicles should have recording and immediate recall of noisy groups, 10 year ban on noise makers. No exception for children. Good fines.
— Sandhya Jain (@vijayvaani) May 10, 2023
There is no reason for the cab to stay there. The moment they knew it was coming near the vehicle, they should have moved. Very risky, elephants can move faster than this. For a small moment of thrill someone might have risked the life of both the people in the jeep & the animal
— Nishand Venugopal (@nvgpal79) May 10, 2023
First published: 10 May 2023, 14:53 ISTMostly it is fault of Drivers. They know that it is best to make immediatretreat when elephant is on same path but they don’t. Secondly, Safari rides should only be allowed in designated routes within the Reserve and not on every road and state highways passing through Reserves.
— kanv bali (@kanvbali) May 10, 2023
