Elephants are kind, gentle creatures, and in most situations, these herbivores wouldn’t hurt a fly. But for as sweet as these creatures can be, they are extremely protective of their families. Elephants travel in herds and the older elephants are responsible for looking out for the little ones, which they do at any cost.

It’s hard to imagine these docile animals being aggressive or mean, but you better believe that if their herd’s safety is on the line, the last place you want to be is in front of a protective elephant.

That might be why this terrifying footage from photographer Jasoprakas Debdas instantly went viral because that’s exactly where this poor soul found himself.

When the camera begins rolling, your eye immediately goes to two things: a man on a bicycle and an angry, charging elephant just behind him. The chase is happening on a dirt road with thick jungle foliage on either side, and the man being chased is understandably terrified.

The man is furiously peddling the bike, peeking over his shoulder to see how close his “attacker” is, and for a terrifying moment, he loses the pedals under his feet. Luckily, just as he zooms out of the frame, the elephant slows down on his charge and the man escapes the frightening situations safely.

So, what exactly caused a usually friendly creature to charge and potentially injure this cyclist? Well, the camera keeps rolling and the reason why becomes clear very quickly!

After the elephant has finished his chase, he turns back around and walks to one side of the road. At this point, we notice in the background there seems to be a police barricade farther down the road, which gets us wondering.

To see what the actual reason for the scary chase was, make sure to watch the video below! The moment when it’s revealed took us aback, but it immediately got us smiling!