Fitness can come in all shapes and sizes. Interestingly, sports stars can also come from the animal kingdom.
In a rare and unexpected encounter shared by Dylan Royal on Latest Sightings, a young elephant was seen warming up and enjoying an early morning soccer session.
Royal is a guide at &Beyond Kirkman’s Kamp and Tengile River Lodge.
Young elephant. (Picture: Unsplash/Alex Kraft)
One morning, Royal and his group of tourists left &Beyond Tengile in the Sabi Sands for some sightings.
As they drove around the area looking for a leopard they were told about, they came across a spread-out herd of elephants with quite a few young ones present.
Naturally, they stopped to watch them for a while. It was not long after they had stopped that the smallest calf burst out of the bush and into the road, following his soccer ball made of elephant dung.
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It seemed like the young elephant had been at it even before his audience arrived because he was so focused on his dung ball that he didn’t even notice there was company.
According to Royal, he also seemed to be so impressed by his own skills that he even kicked and rolled the ball around using different strategies and all four of his legs.
Indeed, it goes without saying that young elephants are always up to something and that they are always entertaining to watch. However, this particular encounter is certainly one of the cutest and funniest.
Royal and his group of tourists watched and enjoyed the sighting for a while longer. When he stopped filming, it was as though the calf realized this as it lost interest in the ball of dung and the herd walked a little way into the bush.
But, when they drove past the abandoned dung ball, the young elephant came back bursting and trumpeting out at them. It is said to have kicked up sand, throwing a bit of a tantrum until his audience left the area (and his toy) alone.
Watch how it all unfolded, courtesy of Latest Sightings.
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