A wildlife photographer filmed as an adult elephant perched itself on a rock like a human to enjoy a backside scratch.

The filmer said: "It’s fascinating how wild animals can adapt to their environment and make use of things around them as tools and adopt certain skills to help and assist them with their daily survival quest out in the wild.

"Elephants are one great example of this in the African wild.
While out on a safari in the Kruger National Park, we came across an area with large open grass plains, giving you large open spaces in which to easily scan for wild animals.

"It didn’t take long for all of us to spot one large lone elephant bull in the distance. The elephant was standing next to what looked like the only rock in the vast open space around us. The rock was low and flat at the top and it seemed like the elephant took a particular interest in the rock. The next thing we know, the big old elephant bull slowly takes a seat on the rock.

"The rock was the perfect size and height for the elephant. We soon realized the elephant wasn’t sitting down on the rock to take a break. Slowly, the elephant bull started moving his back side from side to side on the rock. The big boy was enjoying a good old soothing scratch, with the rock as a perfect match to help reach those ‘hard to reach’ places.

"Travelling through the long grass, elephants pick up a lot of ticks and parasites, making them very itchy eventually. These pesky insects mostly land up in those ‘hard to scratch’ places on the body.

"This was so funny to watch, and I couldn’t believe that in all this wide-open space we would find a sight like this. After a thorough and relieving scratch, the elephant bull got up and slowly continued feeding along the open grass plains."

It’s fascinating how wild animals can adapt to their environment and make use of things around them as tools and adopt certain skills to help and assist them with their daily survival quest out in the wild. Elephants are one great example of this in the African wild.
While out on a safari in the Kruger National Park, we came across an area with large open grass plains, giving you large open spaces in which to easily scan for wild animals. It didn’t take long for all of us to spot one large lone elephant bull in the distance. The elephant was standing next to what looked like the only rock in the vast open space around us. The rock was low and flat at the top and it seemed like the elephant took a particular interest in the rock. The next thing we know, the big old elephant bull slowly takes a seat on the rock. The rock was the perfect size and height for the elephant. We soon realized the elephant wasn’t sitting down on the rock to take a break. Slowly, the elephant bull started moving his back side from side to side on the rock. The big boy was enjoying a good old soothing scratch, with the rock as a perfect match to help reach those ‘hard to reach’ places. Travelling through the long grass, elephants pick up a lot of ticks and parasites, making them very itchy eventually. These pesky insects mostly land up in those ‘hard to scratch’ places on the body. This was so funny to watch, and I couldn’t believe that in all this wide-open space we would find a sight like this. After a thorough and relieving scratch, the elephant bull got up and slowly continued feeding along the open grass plains.