Elephantโฃ Attacks Canoas Carrying Tourists โin Botswana‘s Okavango โDelta
A group of British โฃtourists experienced a terrifying ordeal last week in Botswana’s Okavango Delta when an elephant attacked the canoes they were traveling โคin, capsizing them in waters known to be inhabited by crocodiles.
Video footage of the incident, released โby the newspaper “Sun,” showsโค the elephant charging towards the vesselsโ and ramming them twice. In one attack, โthe animal struck a woman with โit’s trunk, attempting to โฃsubmerge her. The blow narrowly missed causing serious injury from the elephant’s โคtusks.
“She was lucky not to have beenโ injured by the fangs of the pachyderm,” said Kakwele Sinyina, a former South African ranger who reviewed the video.
Guidesโฃ steered the canoesโ to shoreโค for safetyโข while the tourists scrambled out โof the โwater. despite the force of the attack, no one was injured.
Experts believe the elephant’s behavior was aโค defensive reaction,โ attributing it to the guides navigating the canoes too close to the animal and its group.
The Okavango Delta, the largest inland delta in theโฃ world, is โขa unique ecosystem formed where the โขCubango River meets a tectonic plate in the Kalahari Desert. The water that flowsโฃ into โthe region evaporates,โ never reaching a sea โคor ocean. The areaโ is also home โto crocodiles and, in some areas, hippos.
