A viral video shows a tourist getting a painful lesson in an elephant's personal space after she got way too close.
An Instagram video by Tourons of National Parks (@touronsofnationalparks) shows a tourist holding her phone up to an elephant that is stretching its trunk over a concrete barrier. A couple of the people in the group interact with the massive mammal, but then it winds up its trunk and smashes her directly in the face, knocking her back and her phone to the ground.
The elephant seemingly reaches for the device before retreating as someone snatches it up.
This is a friendly reminder that animals are not props. As the Journal of African Elephants points out, park visitors are on elephants' home turf and must be "considerate guests." That means keeping a minimum distance of 100 meters (328 feet).
Ignoring such rules also endangers the animal. Elephants and other creatures that injure humans, even when provoked, may have to be euthanized.
There's another reason to respect these animals: They are ecosystem engineers, allies in fighting the planet's overheating. As Pangea Trust and Clemson University's The Tiger note, forest elephants actively increase how much carbon forests can store. As they move and eat, they thin out trees. This allows high wood-density trees to thrive, creating a forest with older trees that can sequester more carbon.
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Elephants also spread vital seeds via their dung. One study estimated that if forest elephants disappeared, the African rainforest would lose 7% of its carbon-capturing ability.
This isn't the only time tourists have made bad choices. In one shocking video, a tourist in Kenya poured beer down an elephant's trunk. In a more terrifying encounter, an elephant in Botswana flipped tourist canoes into crocodile-infested waters.
The key is coexistence, and viewers of this clip had strong reactions.
"POW!! Ellie Power activate!" one user commented.
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Definitely 👍 "Ouch! I watched it like 10 times," another wrote.
A third noted: "That elephant is quick. I bet that hurt!"
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