This is the cute moment a huge bull elephant tried and failed to play hide and seek with a photographer.
Ramona Reichert snapped the playful giant trying to conceal his vast five-tonne frame behind a tree in Tarangire National Park in Tanzania last month.
The 36-year-old saw the spectacle while out on safari. She and her husband Ivo Schemionek were watching a family of elephant cows and calves at a watering hole before the male arrived.
Ms Reichert said: “When they left, a big bull came to the waterhole. He splashed water over himself and spread the mud on his skin – the red soil of the Tarangire National Park makes the elephants’ red appearance.
“After the mud bath the elephant approached the tree that stood nearby our car.
“He kept moving in and out from behind the tree and it really looked like he was playing hide and seek – just the way little children do. It was a funny sight when such a huge creature behaves in such a childish way.
“But I don’t think he was a good player, at least not a good loser because after a while he suddenly moved towards our car and made a mock charge. It seemed like he didn’t like to lose the game.”
The Zurich-based architect said she and her husband had developed a deep passion for wildlife photography – especially African wildlife in Tanzania.
She added: “We want to create awareness of the vulnerability of one of the last big wilderness areas in order to maintain it.
“With our pictures we want to raise money to support conservation organisations like The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and The Big Life Foundation.”
