WATCH | Gatvol elephant takes on a bakkie and leaves it with R50k damage

A charged-up elephant recently gave a bakkie driver the fright of his life in the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve in Limpopo.

In a video shared on social media, the elephant can be seen appearing from behind trees on the side of the road as the driver slows down.

The driver tries to scare the elephant off by banging on his car, but the elephant charges straight to the bakkie, hitting it head on.

According to pictures shared online, the driver wasn’t able to reverse his car as he was pulling a large trailer.

Speaking to Lowvelder, marketing operations manager at Bosbok Gas in Hoedspruit, Nathan Traut, identified the driver as Norman Nukeri.

Traut said Nukeri was on his way out of the reserve after delivering diesel to Klaserie Drift Camp and Ntoma Bush Lodge.

He said Nukeri was fine but a little “shell-shocked” after the incident. He said damage to the bakkie amounted to R50,000.

“Nature is one of the perks of having to work in nature reserves — just not this close up,” said Traut.