Rhino Walks Up to Cameraman for a Belly Rub

While shooting for a conservation film about rhino poaching in South Africa, cameraman Garth De Bruno Austin was approached by a wild rhino who was apparently in search of a nice belly rub. The unusual encounter was captured in the 15-second video above.

“If a rhino walks straight up to you while you’re filming and wants some rubs… you better rub that rhino like your life depends on it!,” Austin writes. “Lucky for me she left my URSA Mini 4K camera alone!”

Austin’s girlfriend, environmental scientist Morgan Pelt, captured a slightly different view of the same bully rub:

A post shared by Morgan Pelt (@morgan_pelt) on Oct 29, 2016 at 10:18pm PDT

Austin notes that while this rhino was a wild one, he had built up a level of trust with it by filming it over the course of a few years.

“Do NOT try and do this with a truly wild rhino as it may end up with you being dead!,” Austin says. “FYI, I did not approach this animal, it was completely her decision to let me come into her personal space and touch her.”

(via Garth De Bruno Austin via Laughing Squid)