This past Thursday visitors to the Pilanesberg Game Reserve, which is located in the North West province near Rustenburg, were treated to a rather unpleasant experience. The new car that they were travelling in appears to have become the victim of a case of mistaken identity for a large and aroused bull elephant.

John Somers, an Irishman living in Rustenburg and celebrating his 66^th birthday at the time, along with his friend Carina Lowers of Johannesburg, can consider themselves fortunate.

The appropriately named Amarula, one of the Pilanesberg’s largest individuals, literally appeared to want to mount Somers’ new Passat.

It really seemed to regard the car as a female elephant and was making advances to ‘her’.

Carina and I were very nervous, because we could see the elephant was in musth.

Bull elephants in musth (term for sexual arousal levels of male elephants) are to be avoided in general. This is because their hormone levels rise and that leads to unpredictable aggressive behaviour.

The friends had become trapped in a ditch while trying to reverse away from the approaching elephant when it made its, advances.

But in the end the elephant’s passion is what seems to have saved them – they escaped with only minor cuts and bruises after the car was flipped onto its roof.

[Source: News24]