A bold elephant tried to force a lone buffalo into retreat, only to find itself facing a completely immovable object!
Posturing is incredibly important in the animal kingdom, and almost every animal will engage in this behavior at one point or another during their lives. For prey, it can be a matter of life and death; for predators it can determine whether a fight even takes place. For other animals, it can be an attempt to define territorial borders or simply to force others into submission. Unfortunately, as in this case, posturing is more complex than simply being big.
Sonja Deutschendorff filmed this elephant’s intimidation attempt in the Kruger National Park, near Punda Maria, and sent the footage in.
An Unstoppable Force
The enormous elephant approached the buffalo from a distance, moving slowly and menacingly. As the largest animals to walk the surface of our planet, these great creatures are more than capable of being intimidating most of the time at least.
This one was certainly doing its best to convey that it was a threat. It had its ears flared out wide, which gives them the impression of being even bigger than they actually are.
Typically, elephants will combine this tactic with a false charge designed to make their opponent panic and flee, but this one might not have been feeling confident enough to attempt that.
Unfortunately for the elephant, its slow and imposing approach wasn’t quite as threatening as it had hoped, and the buffalo didn’t seem at all impressed with the attempt.
An Immovable Object
In the face of such a threat, the buffalo instead appeared completely unmoved. It didn’t step back, and it didn’t flinch. The brave buffalo stood its ground completely alone, without its herd for backup, and without any hesitation.
This highlights the importance of posturing: the odds would strongly favor the elephant if the two actually engaged physically. The larger animal had the size and strength necessary to win out over the buffalo if it needed to.
But in this confrontation, the sheer confidence and strong posture of the buffalo were enough to win the encounter. Unable to force the buffalo into retreat, the elephant couldn’t maintain its bluff and eventually turned away.
A Little Bit Embarrassed
Size matters in the animal kingdom — the bigger and scarier an animal can make itself, the less willing potential rivals might be to attack. But size still isn’t everything, with this buffalo proving that attitude can be just as important.
The vanquished elephant at least had the grace to look a little embarrassed as it turned away from the buffalo and slowly began heading back into the bush.
It seemed a little unsure what had just happened, or how to react to it, as it retreated under the watchful eyes of the proud buffalo — which even now remained unmoved, just in case the elephant risked coming back. Clearly, this elephant would have to adjust its tactics in future encounters.
