Deadly affair - Male elephant threatens to hurt the calf in pursuit of a sexual partner in South India.

Unsettling video has emerged from South India, a young elephant calf being threatened by an older elephant bull, or adult male.

The playful calf then senses the danger and it struggles to hide itself from the male elephant that is visibly in pursuit of a sexual partner.

Eventually, the infant calf is protected by a female elephant, presumably its mother, and it continues for 15 minutes. Later they vanished into the forest.

This incident happened in the highway that runs through the dense forest in Sathyamangalam area of Erode district in Tamilnadu state in South India.

Animal observer says “This is a rare behaviour. The male's aggression was likely caused by his inability to distinguish female elephant reproductive hormones. When female elephants are in estrous, or able to become pregnant, they give off a scent signalling their reproductive state. The male seen in the video is likely confusing the new mother's hormonal scent with that of a female in estrous”.