小象与鳄鱼的非自愿拔河比赛

来源:百度文库 编辑:神马文学网 时间:2024/10/02 03:23:35

英国每日信报的报道,一头非洲小象在水池喝水的时候被一条鳄鱼袭击,咬住了他的小鼻子,小象为了不献身于鳄鱼的臭嘴,而进行了一场不常见的象鳄拔河比赛,最后还是快乐结局,当然对鳄鱼来说不是,小象的痛鸣引起了象群头领的注意,发现了小象的危机,大象头领用其强壮的体魄和振动吓跑了鳄鱼,小象回到了大家庭的怀抱。这组照片拍摄于南非的克留格尔国家公园。 by mtjs 


So THAT'S how the elephant got its trunk (in a lucky escape from a crocodile)

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 1:24 AM on 29th October 2010
 

It looks like the perfect illustration for the tale of how the elephant got its trunk.

Sadly for this youngster, however, this was no scene from Kipling’s Just So Stories but all-too-painful reality.

Under the watchful eye of its family, the baby elephant had gone to the edge of an African waterhole for a drink.

Tug of war: The baby elephant digs his feet into the mud as tries to pull his stretching trunk out of the crocodile's jaws

Enlarge 

Cooling off: There was no sign of the impending danger as the herd of elephants met at a watering hole to have a drink

Unfortunately, the leafy pond was perfect camouflage for a hungry crocodile, which clamped its teeth on to the end of its surprised victim’s trunk and began a tug-of-war.

Or, as Kipling writes in The Elephant’s Child: ‘And the Elephant’s Child spread all his little four legs and pulled, and pulled, and pulled, and his nose kept on stretching; and the Crocodile threshed his tail like an oar, and he pulled, and pulled, and pulled, and at each pull the Elephant’s Child’s nose grew longer and longer – and it hurt him...’

Enlarge 

Spooked: Sensing something was wrong the elephants scattered in all directions, however the baby was left behind

Enlarge 

A happy ending: Safely recovered, the baby takes a stroll across the waterhole wirth other members of the herd

How the elephant got his trunk: The Rudyard Kipling tale was brought to life at the African waterhole

Hearing the baby’s calls of distress, the herd of elephants immediately went to its rescue, scaring off the crocodile by trumpeting and stamping the ground. After the attack the herd stayed with the youngster.

When the baby had recovered the herd crossed the waterhole together in safety, only yards from where the crocodile had been hiding.

These pictures were taken by amateur photographer Johan Opperman in the Kruger National Park in South Africa.

He said: ‘The crocodile was hoping for a nice lunch with elephant on the menu.

‘From a couple of experts, I’ve heard that this is very rare, and that crocodiles do not normally try to catch elephants.’