It’s amazing how stealthy an African elephant can be, but once they meld into the forest, they are efficient at ghosting.
One late afternoon, while photographing wildlife in Savuti, Botswana, I accidentally walked right into the derriere of a tusker. Responding to my clumsiness, the elephant did a sudden 180, ears flared, head tossing, trunk raised like a king cobra. Its right tusk was broken almost to the nub, the left one completely broken.
I froze, then ran out of the trees and back to the tented camp. Another visitor happened to film my sprint to safety – until the elephant, caught up in the pursuit, knocked his camera clean over. Soon, the tusker gave up the chase and went back to the forest.
That night, a full moon brightened…