Sri Lanka Elephant attack - final warning
Those that have read our travel report from Sri Lanka have read how we were attacked by a large male bull whilst in a jeep in Wasgamuwa. It was a full force head-on charge, that went very quickly, yet gave us the time enough to consider it could be our last moment. Luckily, the bull stopped only 1m in front of our jeep, due to 2 guides in the jeep distracting the elephant with hand signals and lots of shouting.
As the attack took us of guard, we have no pictures of it. Surprising enough, a 2nd attack followed whilst we were still recovering from the 1st. This time I did snap a few, so hereby I'll share some.
In this scene, the male is giving a 2nd and last warning sign by flapping its ears. This would be a good moment to leave, but our engine was shut off, and it was already too late.
The Sri Lankan elephant is one of three recognized subspecies of the Asian elephant, and native to Sri Lanka. Since 1986, "Elephas maximus" has been listed as endangered by IUCN as the population has declined by at least 50% over the last three generations, estimated to be 60–75 years. The species is pre-eminently threatened by habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation.
