Wild Elephant Attacks Car And Steps On Bonnet As Stunned Passengers Watch [Video]
Wild animals getting out from the jungle and attacking farmers and destroying crops has become a common thing lately. Videos and images of wild elephants getting out on the road, blocking traffic and even attacking people passing through the road have also been circulating online. Recently in Tamil Nadu’s Valparai, a German tourist who was on a bike was killed by a wild elephant that was blocking the road. We now have another case from Kerala’s Malakkappara where a wild elephant on the road attacked a car and stepped on the bonnet.
The video has been shared by Mediaone on their YouTube channel. The video has been recorded by one of the passengers in the car. We see a wild elephant with its calf next to it. It looked like the mother and the calf were crossing the road when the car came in front of them. The driver panicked and applied brakes and we feel that provoked the animal.
The elephant started walking towards the car. It checked the vehicle and when it sensed danger, it started fiddling with the ORVMs and even stepped on the bonnet. We can hear the occupants asking the driver to drive the car in reverse but, we don’t hear him respond. All of them stay still inside the car.
Once the elephant stepped on the bonnet of the car, it realised that the car didn’t pose any danger. While all this was happening, we can see the calf standing near a bush and eating. The calf had slowly started to move away from the road and the mother elephant also went back with the calf.
The passengers thought this was the right time for them to drive the car away and started asking the driver to move the car in reverse. This was actually a bad idea. The elephant was almost going away from the road. When they started reversing, the elephant noticed the movement and started following the car.
As they were driving the car in reverse, they couldn’t drive fast. They were in fact stuck on a narrow road which has lot of twisties. They had to be careful while reversing as they would fall off the cliff otherwise. The video ends abruptly but, we feel the occupants escaped from the spot without any injuries. There car might have suffered damages.
This is not the first time we have come across a case like this from South India. There have been instances where wild elephant that has come out on the road in search of food has attacked people and damaged vehicles. This man-animal conflict is mainly because of humans encroaching upon forests. Some of these animals, which are extremely problematic in nature, are often captured by the authorities and relocated to other parts.
Wild elephants or any animal that has been in the wild is very sensitive and they often get scared by loud sounds, flashy lights and they only attack when provoked.
If you ever find yourself in a situation like this it is always a good idea to stay inside the vehicle and turn off all the lights and don’t make any noice. Also try to avoid travelling through such roads at night. If you spot an animal on the road from a distance, stop the vehicle there and wait for it to move away.