Elephants Hate It When Other Species Drink “Their Water”

Check out this funny video that was recorded at a watering hole in the Kruger National Park. It tells the story of a cheeky young bull elephant who seems to believe that the watering hole belongs to him. There is a concrete reservoir at the top of a hill which is used for storing water used to fill the open water point. Elephants are intelligent as we all know, and they quickly reached the conclusion that they can drink directly from the reservoir because they are tall enough to reach the water inside using their trunks. This means the elephants have exclusive access to the reservoir feeding the opening water point that is accessible to all other species.

No sharing

Unfortunately for the young bull elephant in this story, this just wasn’t good enough. Elephants love fresh water just as much as they hate sharing it with other species. This is because they are Earth’s largest land mammal and can weigh up to 5 tons. This means they can drink up to 150 litres of water every day, and if you are drinking that amount, why on earth would you want to share your supply with other species?

Chasing wildebeest away

The elephant in the video cheekily makes his way down from the reservoir towards some blue wildebeest drinking at the open pool. These poor creatures were simply trying to quench their thirst at an open water point. But the elephant is having none of it and approaches them with his head held high as if he were on a mission to show everyone who is boss. He then proceeds to emit a loud scream and trumpet and then chases away the wildebeest before they have even had a chance to get a drink. Things get even weirder from here.

All’s well that ends well

The cheeky fella picks up a ton of mud using his trunk and chucks it at the wildebeest to really let them know exactly what he thinks about them sharing water that he clearly believes is HIS! In the final part of the video, a few other elephants join in the ruckus whilst the wildebeest who are desperate to quench their thirst consider returning to the watering hole. The young bull however is having none of it and approaches them in a threatening manner and suddenly another elephant also picks up some mud and slings it at the poor wildebeest. At this point the wildebeest decide they have had enough and move on, only to return later after the elephants have left. The term mudslinging has never been so literal!