Chilling footage shows the moment a herd of wild elephants charged at hunters in South Africa after they shot one of its family members.
The graphic video shows two hunters shooting a large elephant with rifles. Multiple shouts are fired before the animal eventually collapses.
One of the men can be heard shouting “hit it between the eyes” as the open fire. The animal subsequently dies in front of its fellow herd members.
Visibly upset by the ordeal, the remaining herd then charges at the two gunmen, causing panic among the hunters.
The animals can be seen charging and trumpeting as the scared men run away. The hunters employ a tactic of screaming authoritatively and standing tall to scare off the advancing herd.
After roughly ten seconds, the elephants eventually relent and turn their attention to their wounded peer.
The clip was filmed in the Nakabolelwa Conservancy in Namibia about several years ago, according to big game hunter Corne Kruger.
Mr Kruger told News24 in South Africa: “There is a small quota of elephants in the area and we only hunt two elephants a year.”
Kruger, who owns Omujeve Hunting Safaris, said hunting had financially benefited the communities in the vicinity.
“We employ 12 people from the community, some of them as game guards,” he said.
He claimed the funds go to conservation and help supply anti-poaching units, though it is unclear how the deceased elephant is valuable.
In South Africa’s Kruger National Park alone, a total of 58 elephants were poached between January 1 and August 31, 2018.
What you can do
Support ‘Fighting for Wildlife’ by donating as little as $1 – It only takes a minute. Thank you.
Fighting for Wildlife supports approved wildlife conservation organizations, which spend at least 80 percent of the money they raise on actual fieldwork, rather than administration and fundraising. When making a donation you can designate for which type of initiative it should be used – wildlife, oceans, forests or climate.
This article by Tom Watling was first published by The Express on 12 September 2023.
Supertrooper
Source link
