April 17 (UPI) — An elephant at a Malawi national park was filmed fighting for its life with a crocodile that latched onto the pachyderm’s trunk.
Alexander Makanga posted a video to Facebook and YouTube showing the footage he captured April 10 while on a boat safari at Liwonde National Park.
The video shows a crocodile jump out of the water latch its jaws onto the trunk of a young elephant approaching the water with its herd.
The adult elephants quickly get into formation to get between the fight and the younger members of the herd, and one of the larger elephants steps forward once the youngsters are safe to help the struggling herd member, which tosses the crocodile back and forth in its struggle to get away.
The larger elephant appears to successfully strike the crocodile in such a way that causes it to release its grip, and the younger elephant rejoins the herd, having apparently avoided serious injuries in the confrontation.
Makanga said the ultimate fate of the crocodile was unknown, but he is “sure [the croc] sustained some injuries.”
