Angry Elephant Charges Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Jeep

"I couldn't have written this safari encounter better if it was a movie. I'm absolutely in awe of these beautiful, strong animals, even though some of us had to change our pants after this. We need to stop killing them - take a photo, not a shot. Would you rather be able to experience these creatures or a hunk of ivory? I thought so."

Former California governor, actor, and infamous muscle man Arnold Schwarzenegger was recently on a South African safari when an elephant charged his jeep — and his camera was rolling.

“He’s going to charge at us!” Schwarzenegger yells as the elephant gears up to attack his car. Eventually, the riled up bull elephant chases the jeep as Schwarzenegger and company try to make a quick escape down the road. Luckily, everyone made it out of the incident unscathed.

When Schwarzenegger shared the video on Instagram, he wrote that he’s in “awe” of elephants and that “we need to stop killing them – take a photo, not a shot.”

Although the fight against elephant poaching has gained traction in recent years, we still desperately need to take heed of Schwarzenegger’s words.

Despite the fact that 46 countries signed a 2014 declaration pledging to control the illegal ivory trade, the number of murdered elephants remains high — higher, in fact, than the natural rate of population growth.

A 2014 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that 100,000 elephants were killed between 2010 and 2012, with the U.N.’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species estimating that another 20,000 were killed in 2013. Sadly, that number remained at that level for 2014 and actually increased to 24,000 in 2015 (according to the international wildlife charity Born Free).