How to survive an elephant attack
More than 500 people are estimated to be killed by elephant attacks each year. These attacks happen around rural areas and other occasions where they hold elephants in captivity. Elephant charges are unpredictable and would require you to pay attention to them when you are close to them. If you ever come across a situation to get charged by an elephant, your only priority should be to run away to stay alive.
1) Realizing if it is real or a mock.
It is thought that most charges are “mock” (threat) charges, that is, the elephant is pretending to charge but is actually testing you out to see if you’re aggressive or a non-threat. Be able to recognize the difference between an elephant who is making a mock charge and an elephant who is about to trample you.
- If an elephant’s ears are relaxed, he is probably making a mock charge. Ears that are fanned out are indicative of a mock charge.
- If the elephant’s ears are pinned back flat, it is likely that the charge is real. A trunk that is curled inward will often accompany this.
- You’re likely to hear trumpeting of a warning from the elephant
2) Running away to survive
Running away from an elephant isn’t an easy thing. Your only priority should be to dodge the elephant. It is very important to look for a pathway that would be difficult for an elephant to follow or large objects that can act as a shield. Large objects such as large rocks, large trees that are strong, building rubble etc.
Elephants that are angered could run up to 35 km/h and the fastest human being runs at around 37 km/h. So if you happen to be in a group and to know that you are the fastest runner in the group, you can try to help the obvious slow runners live by taunting the elephant yourself to gain its attention. So by doing the above-stated tactics of getting cover using large objects can save everyone’s lives.
3) Climbing
Elephants can’t climb. If you happen to see a large tree that is strong enough to keep the elephant from breaking it down, you are completely safe up on the tree.
4) Swimming
Elephants are good swimmers. They will eventually follow you and restrict you from getting away. Do not be in a swimming competition with an elephant ever.
5) Make noises
If an elephant charges at you, you can attempt with shouting at them with all the voice you got.
6) Throwing a decoy
Throw a jacket or a bag on the other side to distract the elephant. When the elephant sees that simple action, It will attack it instead. You can use that few extra seconds to run away towards a different direction.
Following a few of these simple tricks can save your life. Will also come handy in any attack kind of situation to survive through it.
