Footage reveals incredible moment herd of elephants stumble upon GoPro camera recording a waterhole in Africa ... and one even picks it up with his TRUNK

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This is what happens when a herd of elephants find a GoPro camera recording.

Mike and Marian Myers left their video camera near to a watering hole where they had hoped to film two wild dogs they had spotted in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe during a trip in September.

While they were waiting for the dogs to show up, a group bull elephants unexpectedly approached the device and began playing with it.

One of the elephants even put the camera in its mouth before spitting it out and giving it a few thumps with his foot on the floor.

Describing the encounter, Marian wrote online: ‘Mike was on the edge of his nerves concerned for the safety of the camera. He was cursing the elephants from afar – he even gave an almighty whistle and shouted ‘leave the camera alone’ from the platform.’

Marian works as a film-maker, creating promotional videos for Wilderness Safaris.

She lives in Johannesburg with her husband Mike, a pilot and wildlife photographer.

Mike specialises in stills photography, while Marian uses GoPro cameras and writes regular blogs for the company’s website.

Photographers Mike and Marian Myers left their GoPro video camera near to a watering hole where they had hoped to film two wild dogs they had spotted in Hwange National Park during a trip in September

Talking about their experience filming the elephants, Marian added: ‘We had seen two wild dogs at Hwange’s Madison Pan on an early morning drive and decided that we would venture back there with the GoPro to see if they appeared with the rest of the pack and the pups for an evening drink.

‘We set it up and arranged ourselves on the deck with the remote in hand. Now we had established the distance we could safely operate between the camera and the remote. 

'On cue, elephants arrived and we started to film from our vantage point.

While they were waiting for the dogs to show up, a group elephants approached the device

One of the elephants even put the camera in his mouth before spitting it out and giving it a few thumps

‘Everything went very well until one large bull elephant came over and gingerly sniffed the camera and then gave it a prod with his foot.

‘That made the camera whip back and forth on the bendy stake like a Cape cobra ready to strike.

‘Things settled down again and we thought everything was back to normal. Until another young bull came over and investigated the camera. This time he kicked the stake hard enough to knock it over.

‘Then he sniffed it seriously and picked it up in his trunk and put it in his mouth! He quickly spat it out and gave it a few thumps with his foot and then moved on.

Mike Myers managed to retrieve his GoPro camera when the elephants had turned their back on the device

Marian works as a film-maker, creating promotional videos for Wilderness Safaris. She lives in Johannesburg with her husband Mike, a pilot and wildlife photographer

‘Round three came when a third elephant came past and looked at this weird contraption now lying apparently lifelessly on the ground, and he too gave it a cursory sniff and then with utter distain stomped on it. Several times.

‘Actually, the footage shows what the underside of an elephants foot looks like if he were to stand on you! After a few more stomps with his front foot, elephant number three lost interest and moved off.

‘Of course retrieving the camera is always a great challenge, but this time the split second there was a gap Mike hotfooted it down in the vehicle to the site. At first he couldn’t find the camera, but thankfully the white of the home-made conduit piping stuck out so he could identify it.

‘Back at camp we downloaded the footage, which we are delighted with! Elephants don’t think too much about foreign technology invading their watering hole – methinks!’