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Two couples were being poled gondola-style through shallow, reed-filled water on Sept. 27 when their guides approached a female elephant with two calves, prompting a nearby bull to charge, according to the Daily Star.
As the guides tried to back away, the bull, which weighs about 6 tonnes according to a source from the delta, closed the distance and used its trunk and tusks to flip both canoes, sending the tourists into waters known to contain crocodiles, the Daily Mail reported.
A video from the scene appears to show the two guides running to the riverbank while the visitors struggled in the water.
One woman, after briefly getting to her feet, was knocked down again by the elephant, which seemed to hold her underwater for a moment before turning away and rejoining the herd.
Her husband then helped her to shore, where the rest of the group also retreated.
"They had a very lucky escape... all four could just as easily have been killed by that angry bull," a former South African game ranger told the Daily Mail.
Botswana's Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a vast inland wetland where the Okavango River fans into the Kalahari Desert, creating a rich ecosystem of channels, swamps, and islands that supports large populations of elephants, lions, leopards, and hippos.
