An elephant cow in the Pilanesberg nature reserve first chased a game warden for 100m, tore his pants open with her tusk, then ”played a bit of soccer with him”, Beeld reported on Wednesday.
When he landed on his back next to her she stared into his eyes for a few seconds, then shook her head and ambled away.
Eugene le Roux (29) chief game warden at Bakubung Bush Lodge said while he was lying staring into the elephant’s eyes, he hoped his death would be quick.
”I just lay there. An unbelievable calm came over me while I stared into her eyes. I felt sure she was going to kill me. I wondered: ‘Will it be quick? Will it be slow? Will it be painful?’
”Then she shook her head, turned around and walked off into the bush to join the rest of the breeding herd.
”I couldn’t believe it. I got up, went to lean against a Naboom and prayed.”
All he could say was ”Thank you, God”.
He was slightly injured when the elephant stepped on his right hand and partly stepped on his left shoulder.
The incident occurred when Le Roux and colleague Sean van Graan took a group of five tourists from the United States for an early morning walk in the veld two weeks ago.
They heard branches breaking and saw one herd of elephants, waited for them to pass, then saw another.
The walking party jogged down the koppie and fortunately a huge herd of buffalo ahead of them moved off.
Then the wind changed and the elephant matriarch picked up their scent, stopped in her tracks, turned and charged at the hikers.
”We shouted ‘deep’ Afrikaans words at her. Words I can’t repeat, but we encouraged her to go away.”
The matriarch stopped about two metres from Van Graan, turned around and walked off. But then the elephant turned around and charged the group.
”I turned around and saw that the cow was enraged. Her trunk was folded in, her ears were flat, she held her head low — and she charged straight at one of the women in the group.
”I ran to the woman and pushed her into a thorn bush. When I turned around, the cow was practically on top of me. I hit her against the head with the butt of the hunting rifle and started running.
”She started pursuing me. First I threw off my backpack hoping it would draw her attention away from me. That didn’t help, so I threw my hat down. That didn’t work either.
”At one stage I could feel her trunk in my side. I tried to smack it away while praying ‘Lord, I’m not yet ready to go yet!”’
The next moment Le Roux felt the elephant’s tusk against his right thigh.
”Then she started playing soccer with me. I rolled a number of times. I tried to curl up into a small ball while she rolled me from side to side. Then I landed on my back. That’s when we stared into each other’s eyes for several seconds. I thought I was near death, but she just shook her head, turned around and walked off.”
Van Graan came to fetch Le Roux and phoned the Sun City paramedics.
Both were treated for shock, and the tourist was treated for deep scratches to her leg, Beeld reported. – Sapa