by They are two giants of the animal kingdom, but that did not stop this male elephant and black rhino from cl.a.sh.ing dramatically in a fe.a.rsome f.i.g.ht at a park in Africa.
Amateur photographers Loius Kok and wife Marthie were taking quiet shots of a mother black rhino and her calf when the ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs, one-tusked elephant suddenly appeared.
The jaw-dropping images show a b.a.tt.le-to-the-d.e.a.th between a ʜᴏʀᴍᴏɴᴀʟ elephant and a maternal black rhino, protecting her young.
Mr Kok said: “Male elephants on musth, fuelled by ᴇxᴏʀʙɪᴛᴀɴᴛ levels of ᴛᴇsᴛᴏsᴛᴇʀᴏɴᴇ, are extremely ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs, and will a.tt.ack anything which stands in their path.”
Musth is a condition during which bull elephants experience a huge rise in reproductive ʜᴏʀᴍᴏɴᴇs – ᴛᴇsᴛᴏsᴛᴇʀᴏɴᴇ levels can reach up to 60 times higher than normal – and this makes them extremely ᴀɢɢʀᴇssɪᴠᴇ.
The bull elephant – the world’s largest land animal, weighing up to 1,102 stone (7,000 kg) – quickly FLIPPED the mother rhino onto her back.
Rolling the rhino mother in the dust, the large male then CRUSHED her beneath its staggering weight, as the amateur photographers watched the one-sided scrap in sʜᴏᴄᴋ.
“The elephant immediately toppled the rhino which landed helplessly on its back with its legs in the air,” Mr Kok continued.
“The elephant kept rolling the ᴅᴇꜰᴇɴᴄᴇʟᴇss rhino around in the dust, while ᴄʀᴜsʜɪɴɢ it repeatedly under its enormous weight – in a ᴛʀᴀᴜᴍᴀᴛɪsɪɴɢ display of speed, agility and ʙʀᴜᴛᴀʟ power.”
After the ꜰɪɢʜᴛ the rhino’s calf rushed to its ɪɴᴊᴜʀᴇᴅ mother’s side. “The calf remained in the vicinity for some time, circling her mother and attempting repeatedly to help her up,” Mr Kok said.
The pair reported the ʙʀᴜᴛᴀʟ incident to the park management, who in turn confirmed it took TWO hours after the ꜰɪɢʜᴛ for the ɪɴᴊᴜʀᴇᴅ rhino to recover enough to stand up.
Despite some staff thinking she had made a full recovery, the mother was found d.e.a.d just a few days after the photographed ꜰɪɢʜᴛ.
