On Thursday, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California (and the toughest man in Hollywood) posted a video on his Facebook page. The brief snippet of the governator’s African safari focused on an elephant wandering around his group’s truck.
The majestic beast does a slow, lazy lap of the vehicle. It seems like curiosity, but the beautiful beast is actually just sizing the vehicle up (the elephant probably wants to know how he’d fair mano a mano with the Last Action Hero). Toward the end of the video, Arnie’s safari truck pulls away, but the elephant — having missed his chance to get an autograph — takes of after the vehicle. Attentive listeners can hear a very distinctly Austrian accent shout a very bad word as the truck pulls to safety.
Along with the video, Schwarzenegger posted a brief love note to the elephants he encountered on his trip, saying, “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.”
Considering Schwarzenegger’s conservative leanings, such a stark condemnation of big game hunting just might go some distance towards people actually thinking about their actions before they pull the trigger. He’s got a point, too. Everyone wants to see footage of your African safari. No one wants to see you standing over the carcass of anything. Ever.
