Annoyed Elephant Chases Tourists for Miles

February 21, 2017 12:54 PM

Going on a safari affords you the chance to see amazing animals out in their natural habitat. It's thrilling, but there's also an underlying sense of nervousness. These tourists on a safari ride through Kruger National Park in South Africa fully realized this when an elephant decided to chase after their vehicle for several miles. What started out as an awe-filled sighting quickly became more of a edgy slow-speed chase. "He's coming! He's coming!" one of the tourists says. "Oh my god, please go!"
posted by grobertson (9 comments total)

Baby elephant fords river to save a person she thinks might be drowning.
posted by Atom Eyes at 1:38 PM on February 21, 2017 [9 favorites]

"Hey! Want to hear an elephant joke? Hey! Hey! Where are you going? Come back, it's really funny! No, it's not the one about hiding in the tree or gumball jar or whatever. Hey, are you running from me? I love hide and seek! Come on, guys, you know I hate running. I just want to hang out! Hey! Hey!"
posted by loquacious at 2:32 PM on February 21, 2017 [15 favorites]

As a side note, the video that Atom Eyes links to is really cute, but please note it is with Elephant Nature Park, which gets a lot of press for being ethical and sanctuary focused, but has also been subject to historic allegations of mistreatment:

In 2011, Elephant Aid International's [sic] assessed the care of elephants in the park and found abundant foot disease, long periods of chaining on concrete floors, low mahout morale, and dominance as the form of elephant management used by mahouts. It also noted problems with the elephants' diet, sanitation, exercise, and stress levels, and disapproved of tourists having direct contact with the elephants.

They've moved away from shows and elephant rides, but even today, their business model involves tourists paying to be allowed to interact directly and in a hands-on way with elephants, including making elephants deal with humans they don't know in order to obtain high-value food items or access the river for bathtime. Forced interaction is considered problematic by more conservation-minded groups.

Even supporters of the park point out issues. You'll note that article points out that there are baby elephants around as seen in that super cute video only because they can't keep male and female elephants effectively separated.

tl;dr: the Thai elephant tourist industry involves hideous cruelty [tw for picture of animal cruelty], and there are real questions whether even the "ethical tourism" places are morally acceptable.
posted by joyceanmachine at 2:38 PM on February 21, 2017 [9 favorites]

I'm surprised it cared. I was told to expect, and I experienced, almost total indifference from elephants when riding in a jeep. They just walked by us, close enough to touch.

One can't help wondering if it was provoked.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:07 PM on February 21, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'm more frightened/annoyed of Tracy.
posted by hal9k at 5:52 PM on February 21, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm pretty sure that ellie was having a grand old time. He was chasing the vehicle because it was a fun game for him. He's got that big bull swagger going on with a swinging (not stiff) tail. Krueger elephants encounter a lot of untrained people on self guided tours, so they can develop bad habits. These people are speeding up and then slowing down allowing him to catch up before they initiate the chase by speeding up again. For obvious reasons elephants shouldn't be encouraged to chase vehicles.
posted by ReginaHart at 6:59 PM on February 21, 2017 [3 favorites]

Elephant! Please stop chasing our jeep! It's not - it's not even food! It doesn't even taste good! it's just metal! Please stop, elephant! Elephant! Please stop! Elephant, why are you chasing our jeep? I'm going to spray you now, elephant. I'm going to spray you in the face!
posted by Naberius at 7:42 PM on February 21, 2017 [2 favorites]

You know, if I was in a similar situation, I'm fairly sure that I would be ejecting the operator of that vehicle (who you just KNOW considers himself a "card" and thinks that giving tourists cardiac events to be a "good value" for their money), taking the wheel of the vehicle myself and letting him hang out on the road to reconsider his life choices. So many chances for a real tragedy. The engine could stall. The vehicle's electrical system could go into fault mode. Someone could fall from the vehicle. The elephant could actually catch them. All for a few tourist dollars and a gratuity. Leave the dang heffalumps alone, damnit.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 2:44 AM on February 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

This would be so much better if they got a flat.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 10:12 AM on February 22, 2017