Watch: Stoic TV reporter reaches breaking point with nosy elephant
A TV reporter for the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation was reporting on orphaned elephants when one of the elephants began playing with him from behind.
Alvin Kaunda, an intern, maintained a straight face as the elephant touched his shoulder with its trunk. He remained composed when the elephant’s trunk touched his ear. Even when the elephant put the end of its trunk on the top of his head, Kaunda didn’t miss a beat.
But when the elephant tickled Kaunda’s nose, covering it with the end of its trunk, the reporter reached his breaking point. He busted out laughing in a heartwarming video that, even through the laughter, brings attention to the plight of orphaned elephants.
Kaunda was featuring the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which cares for orphaned elephants and supports their journey back into the wild.
“I wanted a very nice background with the elephants,” Kaunda told Ghetto Radio Nairobi. “I’d kept my distance, but I was so focused and didn’t even realize they were getting close.
“I felt the ticklish trunk but just tried to keep my cool. It actually didn’t have any smell. I’m sure if it had a foul smell, it would have really distracted me. It wasn’t normal, but I liked the experience.”
So did viewers.
“So SWEET!!! Great work Alvin. Serious message and endearing performance!” one wrote on the Instagram page of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
“He held it together for so long,” said another.
“This is the best video I have ever seen,” said yet another.
Also on FTW Outdoors: Man threatened by elephant flees car in ‘hilarious sighting’ (video)
The incident occurred Friday as Kaunda was doing a PTC, or a “piece to camera,” when a TV presenter speaks directly to the viewing audience through the camera.
He told Kenyans.co.ke, “I remained calm. I knew there was no reason to panic. They were baby elephants.”
But you never know what a baby elephant might do.
“Everyone wants to be the star!” Sheldrick Wildlife Trust wrote on Instagram. “Kindani was so inspired by Alvin’s performance that she decided to steal her own moment in the spotlight.
“Props to @alvinkaunda’s professionalism amidst a tangle of trunks.”
List
The 50 best movies streaming on Netflix (November 2022)
