Car crashes are common. We are used to reading about multi-car pileups and flipped tractor-trailers, but it’s less common to hear of a wild animal flipping a car over. This is mostly due to the fact that few animals can actually flip a car, much less an SUV. Well, one of the few animals that can flip an SUV did, an elephant. Not only did he flip the Ford SUV, but he made a good show of it too. 

Elephant flips Ford SUV like a toy

Thanks to CarScoops, we see what happens when a South African motorist pushes nature a little too much. An Elephant in a South African game preserve has clearly had enough of tourists and selfies for a lifetime. 

The event happened at the iSimangaliso Wetland Park in KwaZulu-Nata province earlier this month when a Ford SUV was driving through the park. Footage from behind the battered Ford shows the perturbed pachyderm roll up on the Ford SUV and gives it a little hot sauce on the driver side. We don’t know what happened before to upset the elephant, but that’s not the point. 

Are elephants dangerous? 

Hell yeah! Just ask the owner of this SUV. African Elephants are the largest and strongest land animals in the world. Although typically docile, elephants are plenty capable and willing to step up to any creature and give them the business. 

Once the elephant starts pushing on the Ford SUV, it becomes clear quite quickly that the people are no longer in control; the animal is. 

Thankfully, the ramming and subsequent flipping of the car isn’t overly violent, but the ease at which the elephant can roll this car around is a little unsettling. The car instantly changes from a massive, multi-ton machine and becomes a silly little child’s plaything. 

The elephant seems to effortlessly push the SUV around like it’s nothing. The people who filmed the attack also blasted their horn, trying to spur the elephant down the road. This didn’t seem to affect the elephant. Given the scene in front of them, the fear in their voices and trepidation to intervene is understandable. 

Was anyone hurt in the elephant attack? 

According to reporting from the New York Post, the folks in the flipped car only suffered minor injuries, and all left ultimately fine. Officials from the iSimangaliso Wetland Park are investigating the incident to determine what caused the elephant to react so violently.

Where can I see elephants in South Africa? 

There are a number of parks and preserves that have many African elephants for tourists to see. The iSimangaliso Wetland Park in KwaZulu-Nata province is a major preserve with many elephants. While these parks and preserves are certainly not a perfect solution to keeping elephants safe and comfortable from people, it is the best solution we seem to have thus far. 

Again, it’s worthwhile to repeat that elephants are largely peaceful creatures, but something clearly happened before filming started that set the elephant on the warpath. Even still, the elephant seems to have calmed down after he disabled the Ford SUV. He didn’t seem interested in anything past that, thankfully.