Watch: Elephant sneaks up on Irish tourist and knocks him over

The elephant is said to have been startled as it had bad eyesight and only spotted the men at the last minute.

knockbaun / YouTube

TWO TOURISTS AT a camp in Zimbabwe learned a valuable lesson – never let an elephant sneak up on you.

Footage shows the Irish and American men sitting at a table at Mana Pools National Park. They had been told to stay very still when the creature started wandering around but the elephant crept up behind them.

The man who shot the footage said the elephant had poor eyesight and was startled when it got to them. It swung its trunk and knocked the two men over.

Neither of the men were seriously injured in the attack, though one was grazed by the beast’s tusk.

Read: Elephant kills keeper and runs into the jungle with three tourists>

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

Support us Learn More