A safari tour in Botswana turned dangerous when a protective mother elephant charged a group of tourists who had drifted too close to her young, leaving one woman nearly trampled and briefly submerged underwater.
The group, made up of American and British travelers, was navigating the country’s wetlands by canoe on Saturday when their approach toward a herd of young elephants triggered the mother’s aggressive response, according to The Telegraph.
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Video footage shows the elephant abruptly turning on the group as guides attempted to paddle away. In moments, the massive animal was upon them, striking two canoes with its trunk and sending tourists into the water.
Amid the chaos, one woman was knocked down and trampled as she tried to wade to safety. The elephant briefly held her underwater before turning back to its herd and walking away with its calves.
Elephant attacks tourists and traps woman underwater.
Sightseers in Botswana hurled into crocodile-infested waters after veering too close to mother and her calves pic.twitter.com/TWMectv8Vp— ExtraOrdinary (@Extreo_) September 29, 2025
The woman escaped without serious injury but was shaken by the encounter. “She was incredibly lucky. Had the elephant held her down for just a few more seconds, or used its tusks, the result could have been fatal,” a former South African game ranger told the Daily Mail after reviewing the footage.
Several tourists lost cameras and phones during the incident, safari staff reported.
Adult elephants in Africa can weigh up to seven tons and stand more than 12 feet tall. With no natural predators aside from humans, they remain highly vulnerable to poaching, despite international bans on ivory trading.
Botswana is home to nearly one-third of the world’s elephants. In 2019, the government lifted a ban on elephant hunting, with President Mokgweetsi Masisi arguing the move was necessary to balance conservation efforts with the pressures of a growing elephant population.