A cute video has emerged of a baby elephant squaring up to a safari vehicle in Botswana.

The footage, captured at Chobe National Park, shows the youngster rearing up on its hind legs and mock charging.

"As he inched closer and closer our guide had no choice but to start the vehicle to stave off an imminent attack," the filmer jokingly wrote online.

Although the footage was captured in 2015, it has recently emerged online.

A curious baby elephant approaches our open-air safari vehicle early one morning in Chobe National Park in Botswana. He tries to assert his dominance by rearing up on his hind legs and sniffing us out with his trunk. As he inches closer & closer our guide has no choice but to start the vehicle to stave off an imminent attack. Ele runs back to Mamma and we are all saved. :)