Elephant Ambush! Chobe Game Viewing At Its Best.

 “Put the camera down, Jim! You’ll be OK but don’t move – no noise.” Clay quietly assures me, urgency in his voice, as several huge grey beasts led by a 12 feet high, 6 ton matriarch, walk silently down the riverbank directly towards us in our grounded boat! These large beasts are moving so quietly we did not realise they are so close until it was too late. Now we are in an elephant ambush! 
I hope these guys realise I donate to elephant orphan organisations!



Click on each picture to bring these up full size. Use your browser's back arrow to return to article.



 To allow us to get better pictures of sun baking hippos further along, Clay had beached our boat on the Chobe River shore, Chobe National Park, Botswana. Game viewing, whether by vehicle or by boat, can be dangerous with wild animals unexpectedly appearing out of the bush too close for comfort. To fumble a panicky motor start now we could provoke a charge with no time to get out of there. Best to sit tight, giving no movement they could interpret as threatening... and hope they are comfortable with us!

 I drop my camera to my lap, keeping it on silent mode, angling it up to capture the events unfolding around us. Laura is closest, sitting calmly in the bow a metre away from the inspecting trunks as they sample the scents we present them. It is said animals can smell fear, so I concentrate on filling my mind with positive and loving thoughts. Anxiety subsides, replaced with sheer appreciation of the drama. Second time in as many days I have been surrounded by wild elephants up so close I could reach out and touch them- an exhilarating, but humbling experience is now repeating itself. I'm going to enjoy every moment of this- it may be my last!

 There is no time for fear: every second is valuable, crying out to be sucked in and stored in the forefront of my mind to be treasured forever. When I accept our situation, this whole adventurous but dangerous moment becomes sheer pleasure. 

 We are checked out in turn by the herd's adult females. Hang on a minute, we are supposed to be checking the elephants out: we're the tourists, not them.

 Herd hierarchy is comprised of females, the older females acting as lieutenants responsible for all the calves and subordinate to a leader - the matriarch. Males are forced out around their 14-15th year. Males may then live solitary or form small groups, eventually finding mating opportunities from other herds. Interbreeding is thus eliminated.

 I have often observed herd behaviour and seen how a few of the prime females, usually those past breeding age or without calves of their own, will scout new territory ahead of the matriarch and the mothers with calves who will move in only after the area is found safe. I am seeing that behaviour here. Each female scouts us out and extends her trunk, taking in the scents of the boat and we humans, analysing these with olfactory cells in the nasal cavity, the trunk then going up into the mouth where smells can also be sensed in the upper palate. Elephants possess senses and intelligence we are only beginning to recognise and understand. elephants/senses.

 Finally the biggest, the matriarch leader of the herd, comes towards us and is a metre or so from the boat. I keep taking pictures, hoping I have her in frame by gently moving the camera on my lap. She seems content with us, to the point of drinking right beside us, so close every pore in her skin and every eyelash is in clear detail. We remain still and quiet...knowing she could squash us just as we humans would squash a cockroach without a thought or remorse!

Laura sits there so bravely.

 Then a curious thing happens. All the elephants turn their butts towards us! I guess after Big Mama gave us a sniff of approval  the other elephants then no longer care about us: we are considered no danger. They keep their attention on the bushline for any possible lion attack and not on us. Nature's largest land mammals - creatures capable of killing we three in seconds - are perfectly relaxed with us, accepting us as no threat to them, drinking right beside our boat!

This is game viewing in Chobe National Park, Botswana, at its best! 

 An incredible moment, a magical experience, yet tinged with a deep sadness for me - thousands of elephants are slaughtered annually to satisfy the Asian markets growing lust for ivory. Rising Chinese and Vietnamese affluence fuels demand for ivory, and poaching is escalating in all African countries where elephants are.

 Chobe's elephants relaxed attitudes to humans may not last long if poaching escalates in and around the park. The shooting of one may leave others traumatised, skittery or aggressive with humans.

It is a credit to all Park Management staff that elephants are relaxed around tourists.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Chobe National Park is home to Africa's largest concentration of elephants- estimated as somewhere between 120 -150,000, increasing at around 5.2% annually. 
This document discusses many of the problems associated with Chobe's high elephant numbers - http://www.elephantswithoutborders.org/

Although today's numbers may be perceived as detrimentally high, the question needs to be addressed whether elephant numbers are merely returning to pre-hunting numbers of a century ago. Perhaps elephants today are just adapting the vegetation to what it may originally have been like. Whatever the true situation, it seems like a lot of research is still needed.

Chobe National Park needs sound procedures in place, and the funding to maintain effective anti-poaching patrols. It also needs a strong community based program operated by dedicated and skilled people to continue to educate townsfolk and bordering farm owners to see the value in elephants that attracts the tourists, and the opportunities that brings. 

Clay and Laura live in Kasane, Botswana. Read more about them here at Chobe Wildlife Rescue

EDIT: Clay and Laura have since returned to the USA.

Editor's note- We had lightly touched upon the shore to provide a still platform for filming hippos further along the bank. While our attention was on them, we did not see elephants coming from behind us. At no time did anyone leave the boat.

If you enjoyed this moment as much as I did, please share this using the Share/submit gadget just below!

Elephant Ambush! Chobe Game Viewing At Its Best.

Tweet