African Elephant Attack

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• published: 19 Jun 2014
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You may have seen African elephants in documentaries on National Geographic and Animal Planet, or maybe in your local zoo. But when you encounter one in the wild, be wary of an attack. The African elephant is the fifth deadliest animal on its continent, responsible for about 500 human deaths per year. Do you know what to do if you're being charged by an angry African elephant? Where are they located? African elephants are found in the eastern, southern, and western parts of Africa in dense forests, savannahs, scrubs, or even deserts. Unlike Asian elephants, both the male and female African elephants grow tusks. They are considered an endangered species as poaching for their ivory is an enormous problem. Also, their mating rituals are very unique. They make loud trumpet-like sounds with their trunks. How will it kill you? Elephants are the world's largest vegetarians, so by nature they don't attack animals or humans for food, but instead act out of self-defense toward a perceived threat. Standing between 10-13 feet (3.2-4.0 m) in height and weighing between 10,000-13,000 lbs (4,536-5,897 kg), the African elephant will charge at you at up to 40 km/h (25 mph) and either trample you to death or stab you with one of their long trunks. How to survive: When you're being charged by an African elephant, the first thing you should do is to determine whether it's a mock charge or a real attack. You can find this out by watching the animal's ears. Relaxed, fanned out ears--as shown here--are indicative of a mock charge. Ears that are pinned back flat mean that the charge is real. If you're facing a mock charge, you have the option of standing still, as this shows the elephant that you're non-threatening and it removes the desire to chase you. On the other hand if you're facing a real charge, a very effective means of deterring the attack is by shooing off the elephant by making loud noise. Shake trees, rattle bags, and use whatever objects you have on hand to scare the elephant away. Another effective survival tactic is to position something between you and the elephant, such as a large tree or pile of rubble. Lastly, if the elephant is closing in on you and you have to resort to running, make sure you do so in a way that deceives the elephant by running in a zig-zag pattern, as elephants find it difficult to change directions due to their bulky size. So about how many muscles is an elephant's trunk comprised of? An elephant's trunk has over 40,000 muscles, which is more than any human being has in their entire body. So would you rather...be charged by an angry African elephant? Or get caught in a wildfire?