12 TIMES PEOPLE SURVIVED WILD ANIMAL ATTACKS IN AFRICA


Safaris make up a large part of African tourism, with Kruger National Park alone getting more than 1.5 million visitors per year. A safari can cost around $800 to $1,000 per night, per person. If that seems expensive, it is! Fees usually include a trained guide, but even the most knowledgeable game rangers can’t always protect tourists from angry wild animals. Here are 12 times people escaped wild animal attacks in Africa.

1. Elephant attack in Gabon

When Michael Nash was exploring in Loango National Park in Gabon, he came across some baby elephants. Their protective mother was not far away and she attacked Nash, goring him with her tusks. Nash managed to grab onto the elephant’s tusks and essentially ride the elephant until they separated.

2. Elephant attack in Zimbabwe

When Tom Stovall of Redding, California was on safari in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, an elephant charged his open sided vehicle, putting a tusk right through the roof, shoving the car over 15 yards, and smashing a majority of it. Somehow nobody was hurt.

3. Python in Nigeria

Nigerian farmer Ben Nyaumbe was on his property when a 13-foot python grabbed him, and coiled around him. The police arrived but couldn’t get a safe shot at the snake without hurting the farmer. Nyaumbe saved himself by biting through the python’s tail. Only then did the python loosen its grip.

4. Leopard in Somalia

Carl Akeley, who would go on to be named the “Father of Modern Taxidermy” killed a leopard with his bare hands while in British Somalia in 1898. When a full grown leopard attacked him, what Akeley did next will shock you. He shoved his entire arm down the animal’s throat until the animal suffocated.

5. An elephant in South Africa

British teacher Sarah Brooks was with her fiancĂ© on safari in Kruger National Park, South Africa, when an elephant charged her vehicle, flipping it over it and putting a tusk through Brooks’ thigh. The couple survived, but not the elephant, which was later destroyed.

6. Giraffes in South Africa

You don’t usually think of giraffes as viscous, but safari tourists in the South Africa were chased for nearly two miles by a male giraffe in 2013. Some believe the giraffe was suffering “a hormonal imbalance” as this is not normal behavior for the species. The giraffe kicked the car, and even knocked off a mirror. Nobody was injured and the driver managed to escape the animal.

7. Chimpanzee in South Africa

When Andrew Oberle was studying chimp behavior at the Goodall Institute in South Africa he reportedly ignored rules and passed through safety fences to observe a chimp closer. The animal grabbed him, dragged him for nearly half a mile and removed several of his fingers, toes and the majority of one of his arms.

8. Hyenas in Kenya

Two children died after a pack of hyenas attacked a family in the town of Wajir, Kenya. Musa Jelle, 10, was ruched to hospital and survived the attack. The boy’s face was mauled. Two of Jelle’s siblings were died in the attack, and five people were injured.

9. Crocodile on the Nile

During an American expedition on the White Nile in the Congo, South African guide Hendrik Coetzee was snatched from a kayak by a crocodile. Coetzee’s body was never recovered. The American tourists on his tour paddled to safety, unharmed.

10. Rhinoceros in South Africa

When South African student Chantal Beyer was on a safari at the Aloe Ridge Hotel and Nature Reserve she snapped a picture of herself in front of some rhinos. One of the rhinos gouged her in the back. Beyer was rushed to the hospital with a collapsed lung and broken ribs. Beyer survived.

11. Senior citizen elephant in South Africa

An elderly female elephant displeased with safari goers in Kruger National Park charged a vehicle, piercing the sides of it and nearly destroying the door. Luckily nobody was harmed.

12. Hippo attack in Botswana

Miss South Africa 1991, Diana Tilden-Davis was canoeing in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, when a hippo almost bit off her leg in a brutal attack. A woman died from a hippo attack in that same body of water just weeks earlier. Davis survived, but had to use crutches for two years.

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