Nature can be beautiful but it can also get dangerous. Tourists got a little too close to an elephant at a safari park in South Africa and the animal wasn't happy about it. The raging bull elephant flipped over the car and proceeded to trample it.
A video that was posted to YouTube shows a huge male elephant becoming aggressive towards a tourist car in Kruger National Park. A woman in the video, British tourist Sarah Brooks was left in serious condition after the attack. The elephant's tusks ripped open the teacher's thigh. A man named Jans de Klerk, who is the woman's partner suffered from minor injuries in the attack. The two were on the safari celebrating their engagement, News 24 reports.
Both of the victims had to be airlifted from the safari park, stabilized and then flown to a nearby hospital.
The elephant involved in the attack was later put down. It was discovered that the animal was in musth, which is a condition in which a male elephant's testosterone levels, aggression and sexual activity increase. This happens once a year.
The strange behavior may also be the result of an injury that the animal had suffered before the attack.
"Our rangers reported that the same elephant bull had been involved in previous fights with other dominant bulls since it has been in musth phase," Park spokesman William Mabasa told News 24, defending the decision to put the animal down. Officials wanted to prevent a future attack.
"Tourists are requested to always keep a safe distance at any animal sighting as they can be dangerous at times," the park said in a statement according to the Mirror.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
