Client killed Kafue National Park, Zambia

[Hunt anything]

Intestinal fortitude, ??. Or just plain ignorance,??, wanting to post a Social Media video so they could get a few likes or followers.

Condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.

Didn’t say they were smart, but you could very well be correct, looking for likes and thinking the bull was going to pull up not realizing that wild animals are totally unpredictable!

 

[WAB]

April 1, It was apropos! It took 39 hours for anyone to notice. Damn.

Well played sir. I would keep an eye on old spike at our next get together. He seems the sort to remember such a thing!

 

[Rare Breed]

This was not a stupid tourist in a rental vehicle in Kruger putting themselves in harms way through ignorance or stupidity.

How did the professional get into the "tight spot"? The Elephant did not apparate and present a surprise from behind a bush.
The Guide got too close to this Elephant. The animal did not like it. Period.
"Too close" is always determined by the Elephant in that moment, just like it is with a Grizzly Bear.

If a professional is in charge or your safety, they are responsible. The guests were in a vehicle being driven by the professional in whose judgement they trusted. That is why the law requires international hunters to follow a PH's direction. It is the law. They are supposed to know better.

Well said!!!

 

[CoElkHunter]

Cannot get the video to load....nor the 2 I have from Pilansberg but here is one from yt..

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DxZlLgZchhkg&ved=2ahUKEwj9yLeP9aOFAxUt1gIHHf7rBDAQwqsBegQIFhAG&usg=AOvVaw2PRBxHqjDwRmSTNqjn33f3

Wow! How about backing the hell up and getting out of THERE? WTF!

 

[CoElkHunter]

I don't know ANYTHING about elephants. On my one PG Safari in RSA, we made a detour through the Addo Elephant Park. We probably saw 50 elephants when driving through. Fantastic! Anyway, my PH had to take a leak and went into the bush. Two elephants passed by him within probably ten feet and then our vehicle. I noticed how quiet they were when walking through the bush. I didn't feel the least concerned but then again they weren't chasing us!

 

[Ridge Runner]

Just my observations and comparatives of the 2 videos.

Not to "Monday morning quarterback" the guide in the Lufup video as there is just too few details as to what if anything provoked this bull elephant into charging. However, Just IMOPO, there were better courses of reactions to maneuver safely away from this elephant prior to stopping the vehicle for whatever reason.


In watching these 2 videos, in the Lufup video that vehicle is smaller and more maneuverable and was not hampered to where the driver could have made a right turn into the sparse brush making a trail away from the elephant circling back further down to the main road.

Unlike the truck video in Pilansberg. This vehicle was blocked on 3 sides by fencing at a what looks to be a designated turn around for tourist vehicles. As I mentioned earlier this driver seems to be impatient. He also seems to be over familiar (familiarity breeds contempt) with how to get an elephant (animals) out of his way. Where as in this case he only prevoked an already agitated elephant.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Didn’t say they were smart, but you could very well be correct, looking for likes and thinking the bull was going to pull up not realizing that wild animals are totally unpredictable!

An article said the deceased was from the USA. Possibly the others as well. They most likely assumed these animals were like pets in an American petting zoo or theme park, and falsely assumed, sadly, the elephant would not react as it did.

As @ BRICKBURN stated the guide should have known better. And as others have mentioned we need more facts. That the one video we are seeing just doesnt present before we fully, although we can more proportionally, condemn the guide.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I can't see what was in front of the vehicle during the video. However, it appears from the post mortem photo that the elephant rolled the vehicle down the road. So what obstacle was in the way?

Edit: Reviewing the photo, it doesn't look like much of a road.

 

[mdsalern]

80 years old and killed by an elephant rolling your vehicle. Hell of a way to go. RIP.

 

[cajunchefray]

Internet is filled with reckless photo safari videos messing with elephants. I'm honestly surprised it doesn't happen more often.

That seemed avoidable.

I have 0% experience with a 6 ton elephant up close.
I have 100% confidence that I would haul ass out of that situation.

An old commercial: “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.”

Condolences for the family. A damn shame.

 

[Ridge Runner]

I have 0% experience with a 6 ton elephant up close.
I have 100% confidence that I would haul ass out of that situation.

An old commercial: “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.”

Condolences for the family. A damn shame.

Definitely not making light of this sad situation. Just pointing out the obvious.

+1 at my current age even with my ailments. But I most likely wouldn't have made it very far. Just depends on which way the elephant rolled the vehicle.

But at 80 years old, I'd say her hauling ass days were not as fast as when she was 40, 50, 60, years old.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Well played sir. I would keep an eye on old spike at our next get together. He seems the sort to remember such a thing!

He has a great sense of humor. I have no fear.

 

[Ridge Runner]

He has a great sense of humor. I have no fear.

...could these be your preverbial last words: "I have no fear."

And this is how rumors get started.

Something in the wind tells me @spike.t was just seen exiting, or was it at the counter, of a local pharmacy with a big bottle of exlax. Something about it was for a friend.

You might want to pour your own coffee for a while, or at least wait until he has had a few drinks (not fake sips) from his cup, before drinking yours.

And now back to the OP.

 

[spike.t]

An article said the deceased was from the USA. Possibly the others as well. They most likely assumed these animals were like pets in an American petting zoo or theme park, and falsely assumed, sadly, the elephant would not react as it did.

As @ BRICKBURN stated the guide should have known better. And as others have mentioned we need more facts. That the one video we are seeing just doesnt present before we fully, although we can more proportionally, condemn the guide.

Apparently they were a group of elderly Americans who visited every year , or on a regular basis....so hopefully would have thought they might have had some appreciation of any dangers.... but.......

 

[cajunchefray]

Definitely not making light of this sad situation. Just pointing out the obvious.

+1 at my current age even with my ailments. But I most likely wouldn't have made it very far. Just depends on which way the elephant rolled the vehicle.

But at 80 years old, I'd say her hauling ass days were not as fast as when she was 40, 50, 60, years old.

I understand and agree with your point very well, but I was unclear in my comment.

I meant if I was the driver, tour guide.

Thanks for raising this, I should have proofread!

 

[Ridge Runner]

I understand and agree with your point very well, but I was unclear in my comment.

I meant if I was the driver, tour guide.

Thanks for raising this, I should have proofread!

No Problem.

 

[UK Nimrod]

I can’t believe how many laugh reactions there are on the FB video.

Those kind are all over FB complete morons.

 

[Sideshow]

So just looked at this.
Looks like the vehicle stopped then tried, seemed to reverse just before it was rolled.
1 I don’t see the road so can tell what was in the road nor what condition the road was in. Could have been a tree down or a wash out.
They get some mean as rain up that way. Bush looks fairly green.
Its an fairly isolated Nat park so roads might not be in that good a condition.
2 This could also explain why the driver slowed then speed up. To avoid road hazards.
I wouldn’t drive like an F1 driver with elderly clients on board.
Sorry for the loss of life and all those involved.

 

[Franco]

I was in that same area this past summer and I can say there were a lot of elephants and they were really amped up. They are being crowded and pushed by human encroachment. We experienced several charges by elephants over 100 yds away.

It is very easy to be critical of another's actions - especially from the comfort of your breakfast table while you sip coffee. For those who have never been - you are in the bush, there are no little yellow caution signs, and the elephants don't play by any set of rules - they make up their own.

We are trespassing in their area.

"Holy shit, where did (he, she, they) come from? Is a common question.