This is the unbelievable moment two six-ton bulls collide in a 10-minute battle just meters away from a tour group.
The violent animals knocked down nearby trees as they locked their tusks, charged each other, and wrestled with their trunks.
Chris Bates was on a tour in Kruger National Park, South Africa when he accidentally caught the clash between two giant elephants in the middle of shooting his video.
His footage shows two elephants trumpeting each other before their massive tusks crash together head-on.
The sentence identifies a time in the video that reveals what happened between the elephants.
As the struggle continued, trees swayed and fell down. And then one of the bulls ended up winning.
Mr. Bates said, “To witness such an amazing battle between huge animals–as big as these two bulls–is something to behold.”
The sheer size of these magnificent creatures was like something out of a fantasy novel, and we estimated the weight to be around six tons each.”
“I’ve been a guide for four years, and I’d never seen an elephant fight in the wild before. The experience was incredibly thrilling.”
“Listening to the elephants’ tusks clashing, the trees and branches snapping, and watching these giants fight for dominance was a moment I’ll never forget.”
“The battle lasted about 10 minutes in total, with each elephant getting a turn to at.t.ack each other.
‘Finally, the larger bull won and chased the other one away.
Mr. Bates, a guide from Johannesburg, South Africa, was leading a group of trainees when the fight started in front of them.
“He explained that while the guides kept calm and informed the trainees about the animals’ behavior, at one point, a rifle was pulled way ‘just in case.’
He explained: “We were initially wary when we arrived at camp, as we had to be careful of the potential that an elephant could suddenly come into view.” “The other guide eventually mobilized his rifle just in case everything got too dicey.”
Shots were only fired into the ground to alert the elephant to our presence in order to keep them at a safe distance.”
‘As guides, we ultimately do not want to use the rifles and rather witness nature doing what it does and let nature be.
The purpose of nature walks to come into a spot that overlooks and notices without the animal knowing we were there.
In a Facebook post, Mr. Bates added the animals’ aggressive behavior was likely due to heightened testosterone levels.
He said: ‘Elephants are generally peaceful, but when fighting for mating rights, they go into a state of musth.
‘This state pushes their testosterone levels up by up to 60 times the normal levels along with heightened aggression.
‘At times during the fight, one can hear the tusks of each elephant bashing those of the opponent’s.’
Mr. Bates has run his safari company since 2017, organizing personal wildlife photography tours of the area after a family holiday trip inspired him.
He said, ‘I loved my vacation in the Bushveld. Mostly Kruger National Park.
“I love the opportunity to work in nature in a setting that doesn’t involve technology and share my passion with people who care about wildlife.”
