Backyard Safari: Elephant and Lioness Visit South African Home

Quick Smiles:

• South African couple’s Ring camera captures a “wildlife safari” right in their backyard.
• Footage features a nighttime visit from a 13,000-pound elephant and a daytime stroll by a lioness.
• The couple’s backyard is a lively stage for giraffes, civets, porcupines, and even moonlit strolls by leopards and bucks.

Imagine waking up to find that your backyard has turned into a wildlife safari overnight. This is a reality for Deon Geldenbuys and his wife, Kim Smith, who have shared remarkable footage of the wild visitors that frequent their home.

Their Ring camera has captured everything from a 13,000-pound African elephant snacking on branches to a lioness casually walking past their driveway.

“It’s amazing to see buck walking around at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning,” Geldenbuys noted, sharing his awe at the nocturnal wanderings captured on camera.

The couple moved from the busy life in Benoni to a wildlife estate near Kruger National Park a year ago.

This change brought them closer to nature than they ever imagined, prompting them to set up cameras around their home to document the incredible variety of animals they now live alongside.

One particularly striking scene showed a giraffe reaching for treetops, a civet enjoying a snack, and a porcupine proudly displaying its quills.

Despite the remarkable footage, Geldenbuys and Smith consider this an ordinary day in their new neighborhood.

Geldenbuys recalled, “I had just got up to go to the carport when I noticed a lioness walking down my driveway.”

He immediately checked his Ring camera and saw she had been right outside the study.

While the sight of an elephant on your driveway might be a “shock” to some, experts explain that in a specialist nature reserve like theirs, it’s not uncommon.

“Elephants are incredibly intelligent, social and resourceful,” one expert noted, emphasizing the importance of finding ways to coexist with wildlife.

The couple’s footage serves as a reminder of our responsibility to protect and preserve these natural habitats, ensuring that such magical encounters can continue for generations to come.

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