A Spanish tourist was killed by an elephant while bathing the animal at a sanctuary in southern Thailand on Friday (3), according to local police.
Blanca Ojanguren Garcia, 22, and her boyfriend were giving an elephant a bath at the Koh Yao Elephant Care sanctuary when the animal appeared to “panick” and stab the tourist with its ivory, police told CNN .
Bathing elephants at animal sanctuaries is a popular activity for tourists in Thailand, which is home to both wild and domesticated populations.
According to the Koh Yao district police, Garcia and her boyfriend were staying at a popular resort on the island of Phuket, and had taken the day to visit the center of the island of Koh Yao Yai, where the sanctuary is located.
The owner of the sanctuary informed the police of the incident on Friday, when the investigation was opened – the police’s work remains ongoing.
THE CNN approached the sanctuary and the Spanish embassy in Thailand for comment on the case.
Elephants, Thailand’s national animal, have seen their wild population dwindle in recent decades due to threats from tourism, deforestation, hunting or human encroachment on elephant habitats.
Experts estimate that the wild elephant population in Thailand currently stands at between 3,000 and 4,000 specimens, a decrease of more than 100,000 compared to the beginning of the 20th century.
Simultaneously, the number of elephants in captivity increased by 134% between 2010 and 2020, with estimates that around 2,800 elephants are being held privately in Thailand at tourist sites, according to the NGO World Animal Protection.
The organization protests against the exploitation of elephants by the tourist industry and calls for an end to captive breeding, as well as drawing attention to the alarming conditions in which many of the animals are kept, including in isolation.
“Elephants are highly intelligent animals with the ability to form complex thoughts and emotions,” the NGO said in a 2020 report. “Elephant farming is extremely risky and highlights the incompatibility of these animals with captive environments, especially when in direct contact with humans.”
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This content was originally published in Tourist from Spain dies after bathing an elephant in Thailand, police say on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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