A Lancashire youngster captured the ‘incredible’ moment an especially nimble elephant hopped over a five-foot wall to steal mangoes from his safari accommodation. On Saturday, the guests of Mfuwe Lodge in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park had just gone for their afternoon safari drive when the adult male made them an unexpected visit. Ian Salisbury, 68, noticed the bull elephant calculating how to lift its four massive legs over the stone wall without collapsing.
Ian caught hilarious photographs of the enormous animal hittingching its legs over the wall in the same manner a person would. And when it strolled inside the camp, Andy Hogg, managing director of The Bushcamp Company, which owns the resort, videoed the massive creature’s brief but fruitless fruit quest. Between October and mid-December, a family of elephants visits the location in southern Africa, but this surprise visitor arrived too late – looking for out-of-season mangoes.
‘He just selected the most direct path and made himself perfectly at home,’ Ian, originally from Bacup, Lancs, added. The concept of a climbing elephant pleased the visitors greatly. They were astounded that it would bother climbing such a high wall. They were on a safari drive in the National Park at the time and were disappointed not to have seen it [in person].’ In the early winter, a family of elephants frequently visits the lodge’s open center foyer area.
‘He just selected the most direct path and made himself perfectly at home,’ Ian, originally from Bacup, Lancs, added. The concept of a climbing elephant pleased the visitors greatly. They were astounded that it would bother climbing such a high wall. They were on a safari drive in the National Park at the time and were disappointed not to have seen it [in person].’ In the early winter, a family of elephants frequently visits the lodge’s open center foyer area.
‘The quickest way for him to get there was to climb over this huge wall. It’s really uncommon for an elephant to climb thus high.’ It was surprising that he could coordinate his four legs to go over the wall because the elephant was quite a large bull, maybe in his thirties.’ Because of the extremely rainy weather, Ian believes the lone elephant was urged to take a diversion to escape flooding.
‘Elephants tend to traverse quite large distances, and depending on the availability of food, they’ll pop up in specific regions,’ Ian explained. The previous week or two has been pretty dry, however, we have got massive quantities of rain that have almost produced a flood. I’m not sure if it prompted him to have a look around.’
