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Woman injured by rogue elephant

Video footage has emerged of an angry elephant flipping over a car in the Kruger National Park.

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Source: AAP


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A woman was injured when an angry elephant flipped over her car in the Kruger National Park in South Africa.

Sarah Brooks, who's a teacher at a school in the east of England, is thought to have been gored in the leg by the elephant's tusk as it attacked the car.

Video footage has emerged on YouTube of the incident after it was filmed by passengers in a car behind Brooks, who is thought to have been with her partner, at the national park on December 30.

It shows the animal walking in front of the car before turning to face it, walking around to the side of the car, then flipping it over using the strength of its head, trunk, and tusks.

Brooks was treated in hospital before being discharged.

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William Mabasa, general manager at Kruger National Park, told the BBC the male elephant has been destroyed after the incident.

He said they discovered the animal had been "on musth", a periodic condition where testosterone levels rise and elephants become more aggressive.

Mabasa said the couple were driving behind the elephant on a gravel road in the Kruger area when the incident happened.

"As they were driving behind the elephant, probably also taking a video of the elephant in front of them, the elephant apparently decided to turn around," he told the BBC.

"Unfortunately they switched off the engine - because if you minimise noise an elephant would not attack you - (but) unfortunately the elephant attacked."


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