Brit attacked by elephant

Yorkshireman survives animal attack in Kenya

A British man escaped the attack of an elephant in Kenya by playing dead. Jonathan Sykes, 24, was enjoying a wildlife trip in the African country when an elephant decided to charge at his group.

The West Yorkshireman’s quick-thinking saved his life, he told the BBC: “"I just dropped and curled up into a ball hoping it would leave me alone".

His ordeal has left him with a huge scar on his leg after the angry elephant pierced Sykes’s leg and caused him to loose five pints of blood. "This noise started behind the bush and it just came running out, just charging out at me basically," he said.

The rest of his group managed to flee but Sykes was followed by the elephant.
"It was really strange, lots of decisions were being made in my head really quickly. I decided to run off to the side and start zig zagging because with the elephant being larger it can't turn as quick as a human."

Sykes is expected to make a full recovery and holds no grudges against the elephant that attacked him. In 2006 an elephant attack sparked debate over the safety of safari trips in Africa - in that incident a British tourist was killed whilst taking part in a Kenyan safari.