Media Drum WorldA man trying to take a selfie with an elephant was lucky to escape with his life after the animal chased him and whacked him with its trunk.
The whole thing was caught on camera, with onlookers capturing the moment a group of men fled for their lives after angering an Indian elephant.
Prior to the chase, the group had invaded the elephant’s personal space in the hope of getting a selfie with the animal – something the elephant obviously wasn’t on board with.
You can watch the moment the elephant catches up to the man below:
In the heart-stopping footage, one of the men can be seen lagging behind the rest of the group before he trips and falls to the ground.
As his friends continue to run away, the man scrambles to his feet and attempts to make a run for it once more, only to be caught up by the elephant in a matter of seconds.
The animal then whacks the selfie-taker with its trunk, knocking him to the ground once more before he scrambles away and picks up speed. However, he once more falls to the ground and is only able to escape when the elephant effectively loses interest in him and saunters away.
Phew.
Media Drum WorldThe incident happened after more than 50 elephants had left the forest to find food in the surrounding area, but the elephant in question was separated from its herd and followed by a large crowd of villagers.
Shortly after this, at least three locals attempted to get a picture with the elephant – and we all know what happened next.
The near-miss happened in Hosur in Tamil Nadu, India, earlier this month, just days after 75-year-old Vengita Lakshmiyammal was trampled to death at Kudisaganapalli village in the same forest range on January 4.
Dozens of people die in India every year as a result of elephant attacks – with a significant but unquantified number of those attacks the result of people trying to snap photos with the wild animals.
Media Drum WorldThe trend has been exacerbated by the fact elephants have been forced out of their forests because of a lack of food, meaning they have had to travel into villages and towns on the hunt for rice.
Hopefully these men will have learnt their lesson and this video will prevent others from doing the same thing.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).