Tourists on safari in the Pilanesberg Game Reserve got a very close encounter with a bull elephant after he charged their safari truck and almost flipped it over! A tourist standing safely behind a gate and not in the truck filmed the shocking moment. It shows the elephant lifting the truck with its tusks – incredible.

This video was filmed by one of the tourists not in the truck and standing safely behind a gate. It shows the elephant lifting the truck with his tusks – incredible.

And this video was taken by a tourist in the vehicle.

The videos were shared with LatestSightings.com. Hendry Blom, the safari guest who was not on the truck said they had stopped at the Rathlogo hide to stretch their legs and have a bathroom break. They were hoping to see what animals might be at the waterhole that the hide looks over. Instead, the animal they saw was the huge elephant in the parking area.

He came outside to see the massive bull elephant charging his guide and friends. He said that the biggest fear many of the onlookers had was that those who were in the vehicle were going to die. The guide, as you see in the videos, was “screaming, shouting, and even banging his hand on the side of his door to chase the elephant away.”

The elephant went straight for the vehicle, catching the front of the vehicle in his tusks. He lifted it off the ground and then dropped it with a thud. There were four passengers on board and 15 other guests in the hide and parking area.

In an attempt to save his guests, the safari guide put his vehicle between them and an angry elephant, which lifted the truck to try and move it.

The male elephant was in musth, which is a periodic condition where the animals have a large rise in reproductive hormones which results in aggressive behavior, much like rutting season in elk.

Thankfully, the elephant was done attacking them and disappeared into the thickets. And to everyone’s tremendous relief no one was injured, including the elephant.