Tales from the Bush
“Crash. Smash. Slam. My cabin was under siege. A colossal crab the size of a car tyre was pushing against my door"
Sarah was staying on a tiny coral island near Panama when an unexpected visitor arrived at her cabin door
“I almost didn’t dare to breathe. Then, a pointy nose peered from around the trunk and it waddled even closer“
When birdwatching in Canberra, Olivia came across one of Australia's most elusive animals
“The huge shadow of an irate black rhino emerged. Running would be futile. My only option was to pretend to be a tree.”
Jess Stevens was tracking rhinos in the Namibian bush when she heard the familiar snort of a nearby rhino...
null
undefined
“In the blink of an eye, 6 of them hurtled towards me. Out of nowhere 1 landed on a branch just 5m away. I tried to back away, but I was easy prey…”
Conservationist Manuel was in the canopy of a Columbian cloudforest when six huge woolly monkeys came hurtling towards him
"Please help – we have a hippo in our swimming pool!"
For veterinary surgeon Dr Ulf Tubbesing this call out was definitely different…
“We both heard a faint knock. We looked at each other, opened the door and glanced down.”
The coati who came to tea – and now “waltzes in, eats a pear and falls asleep”

“Within seconds of our dog’s yelp, we heard the sound of hooves pounding up the trail behind us”
When hiking Colorado’s West Bench Trail, Tim and his wife Alisha were surprised by a charging bull moose

‘The leopard was crouched 3m away, its golden eyes locked on mine. What happened next is still a blur’
Be careful when joking about leopards – they may take inspiration, as Elliot Connor found out while on safari

“Security tapped me on the shoulder. A deadly green mamba was slithering across the desk”
While attending the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Luke Foddy had a run-in with a green mamba. Or was it?

“My stomach lurched as the hippo drifted in our direction, only her pink, sweaty face visible – like a shark’s fin.”
Oscar was on a river safari in Niger when one mother hippo began to approach the boat

A massive wave capsized my kayak, leaving me stranded in waters known for great whites. Then something peculiar happened
Chuck Graham shares an incredible encounter in California’s ‘Shark Park’

The car was stuck in the mud. Then an elephant charged. I still can’t believe what happened next
Daniel Stiles shares a heart-stopping encounter with an elephant in Kenya

A swim in the sea with an inquisitive octopus
When holidaymaker Dave Musgrove ventured down to the coast, he stumbled across a curious cephalopod.
