After a crocodile threatened to bite off baby elephant’s trunk, he had a lucky escape thanks to his mother’s assistance.
Baby elephant had been swimming all around deep end of the pool of a drinking hole in the African jungle when the crocodile sprang out of the water and grabbed his trunk.
The herd members watched in awe as they struggled to defend the vulnerable young calf from the danger, trumpeting and snorting.
The terrified crocodile was forced back into the dark water when the little baby elephant overcame the reptile and fell backward to fend off the threat.
A crocodile waits stiffly in the water just feet away as a newborn elephant sips at a watering hole in the African wilderness. In the blink of an eye, the crocodile leaps from the water and closes its jaws all around calf’s trunk.
Mana Pools in Zimbabwe’s Zambezi Valley took the breathtaking photographs with the camera of Francois Borman.’I was out in the jungle for several hours hoping for some activity – but this is the last thing I imagined to see!’ he said.
When I’m out with my camera, I generally have high expectations, and this scenario is simply incredible to behold.
‘I noticed a herd of little elephants come down to drink – a local crocodile saw them and spent some time measuring them up, pursuing the baby calf playing in the shallows.’
“The baby elephant was certainly looking forward to the water because he dashed in and rolled around in the deep, muddy water, screaming and tumbling around.”
Francois Borman, a Zimbabwean farmer and skilled photographer, captured the magnificent images near the Mana Pools in the Zambezi Valley.
The remainder of the herd crowded around in awe, trumpeting and snorting as they fought to protect the poor newborn elephant.
With a little assistance from his mother, the newborn elephant manages to throw off the crocodile and stagger backward.
“It didn’t have to care about the rest of the world, and it certainly didn’t think about the hazards lurking in the murky waters,” he continued.
The calf was small and didn’t know how to sip with its trunk – it crouched to sip water with its lips; at one point, it stood up and stretched its trunk into the water to give it a go.
“The crocodile leapt onto the newborn elephant’s trunk and grabbed it — it was a shambles.”‘The calf gave out a choking squeal and confronted the crocodile in a struggle for his life.
‘Time stood still as the calf resisted and almost quickly pulled the reptile out of the water with amazing tenacity.’Other elephants rushed in to help, and the crocodile ultimately let the calf go.’
“I was ecstatic when I viewed my photos; I knew they were unique.”
‘Wildlife photographers spend plenty of time waiting, hoping for that certain sight — shots like this are the payoff.’
