Bull elephant at Zimbabwe park crashes lunch party

Video shows the elephant approaching the table, flapping its ears, which the animals use to scare off potential threats. (knockbaun /Youtube)

Tourists go on an African safari to get close to wildlife, but this encounter with a bull elephant may have been too close for comfort for a pair of travelers.

A group of tourists were having lunch at Mana Pools National Park in northern Zimbabwe when bull elephant approached their table.

A video posted on YouTube shows the elephant strolling towards the group and pausing for a moment surveying the scene before it knocks over the table and its inhabitants.

"As we were eating brunch an elephant was eating pods off of the ground and as it approached we were told to stay very still, which we did," YouTube user knockbaun wrote.

Stephen Montague, 39, (left) and his brother-in-law Shane Wolf try to stay calm as the elephant watches the lunch party from only a couple of feet away.

In the video, you see as the elephant approaches the table, flapping its ears, which the animals use to scare off potential threats. The bull comes right up to him and pushes Montague off his chair with its trunk, its tusk missing his torso by a whisker.

Both tourists emerged from the incident with only a few cuts and bruises.