An elephant in South Africa’s Addo Elephant National Park has discovered that to access water protected by an electrified fence, one has to think like a leopard.
The accompanying footage shows the bull elephant garnering laughter and admiration while stooping onto its belly and advancing carefully beneath the lowest strand of wire.
“The lowest strand of wire is about 2 meters off the ground, with more strands above that,” Sri Lanka Elephant, which shared the footage last month, explained via Facebook.
“It allows smaller animals, buffalo, kudu, etc., to pass underneath and get to the water, and has been effective in keeping most of the elephants out. But then this bull worked out how to beat the system!”
Elephants are kept from the watering hole because the massive pachyderms can be destructive and prevent smaller mammals from reaching the water.
Sri Lanka Elephant, which did not provide video credit, suggested that the elephant was exhibiting its version of a “leopard crawl.”