Bull Elephant Overturns Two Mokoro Canoes in Okavango Delta

A bull elephant charged and overturned two traditional mokoro canoes on Saturday in Botswana's Okavango Delta, sending four tourists into shallow, crocodile-prone water and briefly holding one woman underwater before she was rescued, videos of the incident show. The visitors, reported to be two British and two American tourists, were on a guided canoe safari when the animal ran through reeds toward the group that had approached a female and her calves.

The footage, taken by other safari-goers, shows guides poling the dugout-style boats through the delta's reeds as a large male elephant closes the distance, trumpets and strikes the nearest canoes with its tusks and trunk. Two boats were flipped and the occupants thrown into the water. In a second clip the same elephant returns, uses its trunk to push one woman under the surface for several seconds and then moves away as nearby animals pass by. The woman reached her knees and caught her breath before her husband waded through the reeds and helped her back to shore. Several devices and cameras were damaged or lost.

A receptionist at a local tour operator confirmed the group included British and American visitors but declined...