Dancing Elephant Grooves In The Middle Of Kruger National Park
Dancing elephants are something that many people haven’t seen. Only a few fortunate among us, who either have a professional association with wildlife or are privileged enough to have an occasional detour into the habitats of wild animals, can boast that they have seen young wild animals in their natural environment. But don’t worry, because now you can see dancing elephants reclining in your armchair, while having a sip of your coffee.
I would literally do anything to see elephants in real life. So beautiful. I LOVE them. pic.twitter.com/LsVABeiSDV
— lauren nikora (@laurennikora) July 23, 2015
Dancing baby elephant pic.twitter.com/xt9FzX9RtE
— Oh That’s Amazing (@OhThatsAmazing) July 22, 2015
Recently, visitors to Kruger National Park witnessed a baby elephant showing off some amazing dance moves. A set of pictures taken by South African photographer Graeme Mitchley captured a baby dancing elephant while meandering in a herd through Lower Sabie rest camp, Metro reported.
As it turns out, the dancing elephant’s moves were not actually part of a trained physical trick, but an attempt at intimidation when the photographer Graeme Mitchley got too close to the passing herd.
According to Daily Mail, Mitchley confessed that the elephants kept him entertained during the entire trip.
“The elephant looked as if it was doing a little dance for me, it did keep me entertained for my whole trip. These teenage elephants are more bark than bite – they flap their ears and shake their heads. The road was busy with other tourists so I didn’t have much room to maneuver but I could tell the elephant wasn’t happy with my presence. He tried to intimidate me with various moves. If it was an older elephant I would definitely have got out of there.”
Elephants often move in herds, and if they anticipate a threat by humans, they try to protect themselves by physically asserting their authority. The dancing elephant is not as much an example of a young one trying to intimidate visitors, but more an assertion of their own dominion. Not used to dealing with trespassers, baby elephants tend to express their discomfort in stranger ways.
In one instance, a baby elephant recently collapsed on the main road when confronted with a large group of visitors at Kruger Park, only to be rescued by its older herd members. Watch the video here.
But not all elephants groove only when they feel endangered. Some dancing elephants show off their intelligence when they are seen reacting to classical music, like in this awesome video.
So did you enjoy these cool numbers by dancing elephants at Kruger Park? Let us know through your comments.
[Photo: Graeme Mitchley]
