Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/01/04/man-with-stick-calmly-convince.html
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On a side note, it likely helps that he speaks to the elephant in English. They can recognize local dialects and distinguish between them if they’ve had bad interactions with particular groups. Local farmers and villagers in certain areas/regions might be inclined to be violent and aggressive toward elephants, and English speakers they do encounter are generally trying to help them and they remember… being elephants and all.
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I shit my pants for him.
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Me, I just carry a pocketful of bees when I’m in elephant country.
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You can almost see the elephant thinking…
Oi, pal. You’re on my turf.
Let’s be polite. Lumber towards him.
He’s not moving. Right. It is So on! Yaargh!
Charge’n’gore’n’trample’n’stuff…
Wait. What? He’s still not moving. What’s he got?
I’m going to have to go and think about this for a bit…
I wonder what happened to the next group that elephant met.
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Why the cut at 1:33?
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Wardrobe change.
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i want an explanation from the guide about what he did, his thought process, and why it worked. i don’t understand why whatever he was communicating to the elephant made the elephant decide to just move on and live and let live. /shrug
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i am pretty certain people hear a gigantic “klang klang klang” as this guy walks around with his gigantic brass balls.
i would completely soil myself and turn to jelly
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I have seen small cats do the same thing with big dogs.
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It appears to be a young elephant, it’s relatively small, and the tusks are not fully grown out. I am wondering what it’s doing away from its herd. I think the man is tapping into behavior that the elephant recognizes as ‘adult’. I also suspect that elephants are more likely to full-on charge when they have something to protect, like an infant or a sick/elderly herd member.
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If its a male i would be concerned because bulls can get… hormonal and aggressive. Judging by the video i couldn’t see any secretions on the elephant’s face (thought it was really hard to get a clear view), it’s unlikely in this instance that’s what he was facing, but you never know.
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I’m more impressed with the camera person not reacting.
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Nah, the camera man was taking his cues from the guy.
I once went snorkeling with a local Fijian who speared a coral crayfish.
There was a good sized shark around, but the local was not phased, so I was fine. (I heard the thump thump thump of my husband racing for the dingey , however). Later, I was snorkeling alone in deeper water, and saw a shark. My heart raced. Scared shitless I high-tailed it back to shore!
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“I just scored all the cool points. Did you see me just score all the cool points?” [GRIN]
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Impressive… but… maybe Horton heard a Who.
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WHEW! That was exciting. The guide likely knew this elephant and if he didn’t he certainly was reading every second of it’s behavior. This elephant was “mock charging”, usually they are mock changing when the ears are out and they act all blustery. A real charge involves the ears back, trunk tucked in, and silent. I’ve been mock charged by wild elephants before and it’s TERRIFYING.
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That’s where the elephant tramples him. Then they spice in earlier footage from the exchange to make it look like the elephant just walked away. 
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