What Happens When Roads Cut Through Elephant Territory and Put Elephants on a Collision Course With Humans?

Cars and elephants do not make for a good combination. In India and Africa, where elephants roam free, sometimes roadways cut directly through wildlife corridors where elephants and other animals routinely travel. Can animals and vehicles coexist peacefully? What happens when ecosystems that contain some of the world’s most endangered animals are fragmented by roadways?

What Happens When Roadways Intersect Wildlife Corridors?

When you think of elephants in the wild, you likely think of a majestic herd peacefully walking through the grasslands, nowhere near civilization. But the reality is that as infrastructure grows in both Asia and Africa, wildlife encounters are becoming more and more common.

In Africa, a two-lane highway cuts directly through the Tsavo National Park in Kenya. The road created a break in the park, leading to Tsavo East and Tsavo West. However, the animals don’t know their habitat has been intersected. Elephants and other wildlife continue to cross the road in their daily movements.

In India, railway crossings are killing elephants. In 2018, The New York Times reported on the deaths of five elephants when a train plowed into a herd slowly moving across the tracks.

Viral Video Shows an Elephant and Car Encounter Gone Wrong

In this video uploaded by TikTok user @aholashop, an angry elephant is seen stomping on a car in a roadway. The elephant can be seen nearly standing on the hood of the car. It then backs up onto the hood, smashing down with its massive feet. When the video ends, we can see debris from the front of the car strewn about the road.

It’s a short clip, and we don’t know what prompted the elephant to start bashing away at the car. However, we can speculate. It’s likely the elephant was startled or frightened by the vehicle. It may have even been hit by the car, although we don’t know that for certain. However, even without getting hit, the elephant may have been disturbed by the nearness of the car or heard honking and felt threatened.

How Aggressive Are Elephants?

Elephants aren’t typically aggressive, but when they feel threatened, they will attack humans (or humans inside of vehicles). In 2018, in Malaysia, a herd of elephants trampled a car after it ran into a baby elephant. There were no injuries on the police report, but we don’t know the fate of the baby elephant.

Female elephants are known to be more aggressive when they are with their offspring. Male elephants tend to get aggressive during musth when they experience an increase in testosterone. But any elephant can get aggressive when they are frightened.

How Often Do Elephants Attack People?

Elephants will attack when they are threatened or to protect members of their herd. There are around 500 deaths per year from elephant attacks. Elephants can weigh up to 12,000 pounds, and just one hit from an animal that size can kill a human. If the elephant’s sheer size doesn’t trample a person, they are also in danger of getting gored by the sharp tusks.

What Can Be Done to Avoid Elephant and Human Encounters?

A handbook was recently published by wildlife conservation groups with the title, “Handbook to mitigate the impacts of roads and railways on Asian elephants.” The wildlife experts wrote the book to provide engineering solutions to help with a poorly planned infrastructure system in Asia that directly affects elephant ranges.

The handbook offers recommendations to improve crossings for Asian elephants with suggestions such as low-speed roads, fencing, underpasses, and other ideas. Countries can lessen the impact infrastructure has on elephants when using proper strategies in planning roadways.

What Should You Do When Encountering an Aggressive Elephant?

Wildlife experts advise you to keep a safe distance from elephants. If you are in a vehicle and an elephant charges, stay in your car. It may feel tempting to get out and flee, but you are in more danger on foot from both elephants and other wildlife that may be in the area.

Drive backward away from the elephant if you have the space to do so, making sure there are no other members of the herd behind you. If you can’t drive backward, turn off your engine, stay inside, and don’t move. Hopefully, by quieting the sound of your car and holding still, the elephant will no longer feel threatened and move away.

Is It a Mock Attack?

When an elephant charges, the animal doesn’t always have the intention to attack. Elephants sometimes engage in mock charges, where they run toward a threat but stop before reaching it. This is meant to intimidate whoever is threatening them as a last attempt to end the confrontation without physical contact.

According to wildlife experts, you can tell a mock attack when an elephant’s ears are fanned out to look larger. In a real attack, the ears will likely be pinned next to the elephant’s head. Experts say when an elephant mock charges you, despite how difficult it may be, you should try to keep calm, and above all, don’t run. An elephant can easily outrun a human.