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Journalism of Courage
Wild animals are often irked by the behaviour of tourists. Rather than leaving them uninterrupted, people often chase them. Now, a video showing an elephant furiously charging at a safari vehicle after being chased has surfaced online. The photographers and people who chased the gentle giant received flak online for their behaviour.
The clip shared by Twitter user Saket and Indian Forest Service officer shows the pachyderm walking through a mud road. The video is being captured from a moving vehicle that follows the animal. A man is seen capturing the elephant’s photograph. While taking a turn, the elephant turns back and furiously comes towards the vehicle. The driver reverses the vehicle but the pachyderm runs towards it. After a long chase, the people in the vehicle manages to escape from the elephant’s wrath.
“This is how peaceful gentle giants are teased and forced to chase for some ‘exclusive’ photographs. For any resulting accident the #elephant is declared ‘rogue’ and put down for being ‘dangerous to human life and property’. #Justice? 😥Via:SM @susantananda3 @rameshpandeyifs,” Saket tweeted.
Many users criticised the tourists’ act and demanded action, stringent laws. A user commented, “A strict directive shld be circulated in all the Sanctuaries against such practices and Dash Cams installed compulsorily on each Vehical used by the park I suggest.”
Another user wrote, “This is shameful, to say the least and I have experienced this myself in Jim Corbett National Park.The keep driver and the guide from the other jeep continued irritating the mother elephant that was with her calf, eventually the male started chasing all the jeeps & got violent.”
Recently, a video showing a few youngsters trying to click a selfie in the backdrop of an elephant herd had surfaced online. The herd came running towards the youngsters, leaving them petrified. The elephants were seen lifting their trunks in fury but later turned to the other side and left the place without any harm.
