Nature Video: Watch What Happens When An Elephant Tries to Play With A Rhino. (Hint: Elephants Are Twice As Big)
What happens when an elephant and a rhinoceros hang out? It sounds like the opening to a joke, but the rhino doesn’t think it’s very funny.
A video from National Geographic shows that the relationship between these two types of animals might be a little one-sided. As the teenaged African elephant — balancing a stick on its snout like a golden retriever — goes to play with the white rhino, the rhino gets scared and charges the elephant. The elephant tosses the huge stick, its threatening reply to the aggressive behavior.
“Even at distances, elephants are capable of accurately throwing objects at a target,” National Geographic says. “Uprooting objects and throwing them at predators are common shows of self defense exhibited before attempting to charge.
Read: 25,000 Elephants Killed by Poachers
The encounter occurred at Kruger National Park in South Africa.
Although elephants are large mammals, measuring almost 11 feet tall at the shoulder and weighing up to 12,000 pounds, the white rhino is no pushover — the World Wildlife Fund says that males can grow up to 6 feet tall and weigh more than 7,200 pounds.
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