South Africa | Charging Bull Elephant

I was working a gig in South Africa and was fortunate enough to spend about ten days in an absolutely decadent game lodge in the Kruger Concession, shooting game drives at least twice a day.

One lesson I learned was that young bull elephants are full of testosterone and are ready to charge at the least provocation. We were driving a trail in our open Land Rover and our guide, distracted while talking on the radio, drove past this young bull, hidden behind some brush. He immediately flared out his ears and charged us. As the bull was charging to within a couple dozen feet of our vehicle, I took this shot while the woman behind me said, “Why the fuck is she stopping?!?”

Deidre, our guide, had quickly brought the vehicle to a full stop. The only way to stop an elephant from charging is to stand your ground. The elephant pulled up at the last second, turned and walked away, no longer interested in us, even the woman next to me still cursing.