These amazing pictures show why you shouldn't get between an African elephant and its favourite food! Mfuwe Lodge in Zambia happens to have been built next to a mango tree that one family of pachyderms have always visited when the fruit ripens. When they returned one year and found the luxury accommodation in the way, they simply walked through reception.
The animals came in two-by-two: Hotel staff and visitors have got used to the elephants' impromptu strolls through reception. Now the family group, headed by matriarch Wonky Tusk, return every November to gorge on mangos - up to four times a day.
Andy Hogg, 44, director at the Bushcamp Company that runs the Lodge, has lived in? South?? Luangwa National Park since 1982. But in all his years of dealing with wild animals he has never seen such intimate interaction between man and beast.
'This is the only place in the world where elephants freely get so close to humans,' says the 44-year-old.
'The elephants start coming through base camp in late November of each year to eat the mangos from our trees. When they are ripe they come through and they stand about for four to six weeks coming back each day or second day to eat the mangos.'
Living in the 5,000 square mile national park, the ten-strong elephant herd are led to the lodge each day by Wonky Tusk.
'The elephants are not aggressive but you don't want to tempt anything as they are wild animals. 'It is the elephants choice to come into base camp and they have been doing it for the last ten years.
'There are other wild mango trees around and they seem to prefer this one.'
And even thought the lodge was unwittingly built upon the path, Andy says they had no idea the elephants would insist on returning.
'It wasn't a design mistake - no-one really knew they were going to come through,' he says. 'The lodge was built and then the elephants started coming through afterwards.'
0 comments:
Post a Comment