Image: INQUIRER.net stock photo
Elephants are among the few animals on the planet that don’t have natural predators. They’re huge, smart, and normally travel in groups. The only real threat to these animals are humans, although on a few occasions, they can be a threat to some humans, particularly to those who happen to encroach these creatures’ habitats, as one hunter’s fatal encounter with one elephant shows.
Theunis Botha, 51 years old, ran a professional hunting safari service that caters to wealthy clients. On one hunting trip in Gwai, Zimbabwe, Botha met his demise after being crushed by an elephant, reports Netwerk24 via The Telegraph.
Botha and his group had come across a group of breeding elephant cows. Possibly startled, three elephants stormed the hunters. A fourth came from the side and picked up Botha with its trunk.
One of the hunters shot the elephant, killing it. As the elephant collapsed, Botha was unfortunately caught underneath and perished along with the animal.
Considered a “world-class huntsman” by his peers, Botha was a specialist in hunting leopards together with his big game hounds.
He took regular trips to the United States in order to find wealthy customers to take on trophy hunts in southern Africa.
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), there are only 415,000 African elephants left in the wild. Despite conservation efforts, the animals continue to be poached for the ivory in their tusks. Alfred Bayle/JB/rga
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