Elephant Stops To Smell Safari-Goers, Continues On Its Way (VIDEO)

Mandatory elephant inspection ahead.

A group of tourists had to pass through an unexpected checkpoint during a recent safari trip in South Africa's Greater Kruger National Park.

In a video shared recently by Kruger Sightings, an elephant saunters up to a jeep carrying safari-goers and inspects the group. Everyone sits still as the bull elephant pokes its trunk into the open vehicle and smells the tourists.

As National Geographic notes, elephants use their trunks and sensitive sense of smell in basic intelligence tasks, such as investigating their surroundings. Since an elephant's nostrils are located at the end of its trunk, the body part serves as both a long nose and a limb capable of lifting an estimated 660 pounds.

While the elephant seen in the video (above) acts calmly around the tourists, other safari-goers have not been so lucky. In another safari video posted last year, an elephant charges and attacks a car full of people -- a reminder that the large mammals are not always gentle giants.