My family & I encountered two elephants while we were driving to visit our relatives in the south of Peninsular few days ago. This was after several reports of elephant sightings in the same area during raya season. #elephantencounter #wildlifeconservation
We were among the firsts on the scene, glad to report nothing unpleasant happened. It was my family's first encounter of wild elephants & with the help of other drivers we managed to hold the traffic before ensuring it was safe to proceed driving.
With some past experience of working in wildlife conservation field for a few years, I'm gonna share some tips of what to do when you encounter wild elephants on the road:- #wildlifeconservation #asianelephant #elephantencounter
But before that, let's learn to recognise some elephant's threat signs:
- Ears spread
- Head shaking, nodding, jerking
- Trunk swishing
- Slapping ears against their body
- Throwing stones, branches or grass
Cont-

1. Keep calm. Elephants don't usually charge if there's nothing threatening them.

2. Lower your headlights. Like us, elephants have their own personal space which they don't like to be invaded. (But be careful in case other drivers couldn't see you if it's dark.)
3. Respect their flight of way & don't approach closer so they don't feel cornered. Remember, common sense & respect towards the wildlife are vital!
4. Seriously no honking & engine revving. Elephants might feel threatened by loud noises & it's worse when there's a calf in the herd. We want to avoid incidents like this from happening. https://twitter.com/hmetromy/status/1290083436326080513?s=19
5. Retreat slowly if they walk towards you & try to signal other drivers behind you. This is especially important if you're the 1st one on scene. You need to alert other drivers to prevent unfortunate occurrence like the one in previous tweet.
6. Keep an eye on your surrounding. There could be other elephant(s) in the surrounding area besides the ones in front of you. They have pretty good night vision compared to humans hence they most probably could detect you first before you do!
7. Mothers with calves are very sensitive & can easily feel threatened by external factors. Always watch out that you don't do anything that might trigger them.

8. Drive away fast ONLY IF the elephant(s) is charging towards you fast, head down & ears spread.
Just realized @PERHILITAN also shared some tips of what to do during elephants encounter. Remember we're sharing the same land with other creatures other than humans, so always be respectful. Stay safe & try to enjoy the view & the sound of nature! 🐘 https://twitter.com/PERHILITAN/status/1290216825679048705?s=19
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