[VIDEO] Elephant Kills 80-Year-Old Woman

Many folks dream of embarking  on an African safari, where the chance to witness magnificent animals in their natural habitat is as real as it gets.

But let's face it, being out there  means you're in their turf, not some controlled zoo environment where everything's neatly confined behind plexiglass. Nope, this is the real deal. And when  wild animals feel threatened, they don't send a memo—they just go with their instincts.

Unfortunately, such instincts turned  tragic for an 80-year-old woman who ventured on safari. The situation took a grim turn when an elephant decided to charge the vehicle she was in, resulting in her fatal injury.



From TMZ:

The unidentified woman 80-year-old was on a safari Saturday in Zambia at the Kafue National Park -- and at one point in the excursion, a bull elephant charges their truck ... and rams into it head-on, all of which was captured in a dramatic video.

The elephant tips over the vehicle, and you can hear panicked screams from the tour guide as well as the patrons -- including what sounds like the woman who actually died.

A chief executive of a conservation and hospitality company called Wilderness Safaris -- which was heading up this trip -- later confirmed that an American tourist had been killed in the attack ... and that another female guest had been seriously injured, and was flown to a hospital.

Four other guests who were part of this safari were treated on-site for minor injuries, and were provided trauma counseling as well.

In terms of how this happened, Wildness says the guide's route became blocked by the terrain and vegetation as they were driving along -- and that they didn't have enough time to move the vehicle out of the way before the elephant could hit them.