Are Elephants Dangerous? How To Survive An Elephant Attack?

The world’s largest land mammal, the elephant, is a majestic animal. It has a unique presence with a considerable size and strength. It also possesses a strong trunk, a pair of tusks and big ears. These adaptations also make it unique from other creatures. Having such transformations also raises some questions about them. Are elephants dangerous?

No, elephants are not dangerous. These awesome creatures are also famous as gentle giants. Their behaviour is so cool, and they remain calm in usual circumstances. They can be difficult when they do not like other animals or humans around them. Further, they are social animals and have deep relationships with one another. So, they never allow anyone to harm their family. 

Are Elephants Aggressive?

No, they are not aggressive creatures by nature. They never attack other humans or animals without reason. For example, a mother elephant can make an attack when anyone tries to harm its calves. Further, they can be aggressive like other creatures regarding their survival.

Hunters hunt them for their tusks. At that time, they become aggressive and counter-attacks, sometimes leading to human death.

Musth is the situation found in male elephants. This condition occurs in winter. In this period, the testosterone level of male elephants increases 6 to 14 times more than average.

In this situation, the temporal glands of elephants start to excrete temporin hormone at a high level. At this stage, the temporal gland becomes larger and hurts elephants severely. Such pain leads them to a high level of aggression. 

Furthermore, their injuries or harassment by others also can turn on these creatures. They can behave like very aggressive beast. 

When they try to impress a female elephant, they also show aggression to become dominant over other male elephants.

Do Elephants Attack Humans?

Records show many collisions occur between elephants and humans. The result of these encounters stays harmful for humans, leading them to death or severe injuries.

Elephants do not make attacks on humans. Some factors can cause such incidents. Making them shocked by your sudden appearance in front of them can make them threaten to you. Here they can consider humans a possible danger and can attack in reply.

Further, their hunt is the other leading cause of such encounters. Humans try to kill elephants and get tusks from them. Their elephants make a counterattack to make sure their survival.

In such scenarios, a human death may occur, but the death rate of elephants is double in such conflicts. Such an innocent creature is killed by humans every year, which makes humans more threatening as compared to elephants.

In the musth period, male elephants can attack without reason. They do that due to severe pain in their heads.

Moreover, a female elephant becomes so sincere and familiar to their children. Anyone who tries to go near their calves can also counter-attack rather than make a difference between humans and predators.

Important Note:

Bulls elephants are the most aggressive and unpredictable elephants. They can attack with little disturbance.

How Do Elephants Make Attacks?

When elephants face any severe condition, such as facing a hunter, they become ready for attack. They make attacks in different ways. It’s time to know about the types of elephant attacks. So, come on.

Mock Attack:

As gentle and kind-hearted creatures, they try not to hurt any other animal. For this purpose, they make some mock attacks. Here, they try to lift their trunk and make aggressive noises to warn other creatures.

They also uplift its head, shock its feet and break branches. They also make a little fake run to their enemy. In actuality, they want to end the issue without creating a nuance. 

Real Atack:

When elephants get very aggressive for survival, or while they want to care for their calves, they attack their enemy. In it, they use their trunk to grab, lift and throw their enemy with full strength.

Their tusks are also a great tool for them. They penetrate them into the body of their enemy, which may lead them to death.

Further, they also can crush their competitor under their vast feet. This kind of death surely may be severe and terrible.

After knowing the types of elephant attacks, it’s time to understand how we can escape from an elephant’s attack.

How To Survive An Elephant Attack?

An elephant attack is something which works as a death sentence for humans. They are massive creatures with a size of more than 10 feet and a weight of more than 600 kg. Humans are tiny as ants in front of them.

This guide about the survival of an elephant attack might provide practical information to ensure survival against these giants.

Dont Panic:

At first, you don’t need to get panic. Stay calm, and don’t make fast movements. Fast movements can show you a threat to them.

Don’t make shouting noises, and never shake your hands abruptly. So, take deep breaths and maintain your blood pressure.

Move Slowly Back:

Looking straight into their eyes also makes elephants insecure. Running in front of them by showing your back also turns on them. So, move slowly to the back and pretend you are friendly to them. This might be a great decision to make them calm.

Important Note:

If the charge may mock, the elephant will step back. In another scenario, you might be in severe danger.

Find Help From Environment:

Look around and try to find opportunities which can be helpful for you to get rid of elephants. Trees more than 15 feet tall with strong trunks and branches might be such an opportunity. A strong rock or a vehicle is also an opportunity which can be helpful in such situations.

Finding a place with an appropriate height also can help you to survive against elephant attack.

Not find any help, so sad.

Don’t Run Straight Of Elephant:

Suppose you are on a plain surface and don’t find any opportunity like the above. It’s time to do something different.

The running speed of an elephant might be 40 km, and a human’s running speed is just 13 km. So, running in front of an aggressive elephant can lead you to a very threatening death.

In such scenarios, it’s time to make high noise. Flow your hands in front of them while shouting. This may cause an elephant uncomfortable, and it may decide to go back, but it is still aggressive and coming to you. It’s time to run. 

Run in a zig-zag pattern and use your surroundings against an elephant. Running in a zig-zag pattern, you must turn back and can run in opposite directions. You can make such movements as an agile creature, but these movements are difficult for elephants.

Such things can provide you some more time and make the elephant tired.

Do Elephants Eat Humans?

No, elephants are herbivore creatures and never eat meat. Besides this, they kill many humans while fighting occurs between them and humans, but they never eat humans. Look at these incidents when elephants kill humans.

For example, In India, a woman named Maya Murru got into an encounter with an elephant. She was a resident of the village “Raipal, Odisha.” Villagers found her in very critical condition and reached the hospital. As the injuries were severe and she was also getting old (70 years old), she doesn’t be impatient and died. Her family members just received her dead body, which was unacceptable.

The elephant killed this woman but did not eat it. So, like many other incidents, this one also proves that they do not eat humans.

Final Words—Are Elephants Dangerous?

In the end, we conclude that elephants are not dangerous to humans. If they face any discomfort due to their presence, they can get aggressive and attack humans. After killing a human, they never eat humans. One case from India occurred when an elephant ate women due to abuse of its childrens. This was so annoying news, but that elephant did that.

We must respect all animals because they are also creatures created by God. God also love them as God love us. We are not superior, but our acts will make us better than animals. We must provide them with love and respect for their habitats. Do not harm them as well as their cubs.

They make attacks when they feel a threat around them. So, we must never misbehave with them and try to create an environment of love and respect.

Animals can feel love, and they will reply to you with love. Maintain a distance from such creatures which do not make them aggressive against you.

Stay positive and keep exploring with us.