According to officials, a Spanish woman was killed by an elephant in Thailand when she was bathing the animal.
According to local authorities, a Spanish woman was gored to death by an elephant on Friday when she was bathing the animal at a sanctuary in southern Thailand.
At Koh Yao Elephant Care Center, Blanca Ojanguren Garcia, 22, and her boyfriend were bathing an elephant when the animal appeared to “panic” and stabbed her with its tusk, according to authorities.
In Thailand, where both wild and tamed elephant populations can be found, tourists frequently bathe the animals at wildlife sanctuaries.
According to Koh Yao district police head Charan Bangprasert, Garcia was traveling to Thailand with her boyfriend. The two had spent the day at the facility on Koh Yao Yai island while lodging in Phuket, a well-known vacation destination. According to the police chief, the center’s owner reported the event to the authorities on Friday, and an investigation is currently underway.
CNN has requested comments from Spain’s embassy in Thailand and the elephant care center.
Thailand’s national animal, the elephant, has witnessed a reduction in its wild population in recent decades as a result of poaching, logging, tourism, and human encroachment on its habitat.
According to experts, Thailand’s wild elephant population has decreased from over 100,000 at the start of the 20th century to just 3,000–4,000 now.
The international non-profit World Animal Protection predicts that 2,800 elephants are kept at tourist facilities throughout Thailand, a 134% rise in the number of captive elephants between 2010 and 2020.
Concerned about the conditions that elephants are kept in, including isolation, the organization has called for an end to captive breeding and warned against the tourism industry’s exploitation of elephants.
According to a 2020 report from the charity, “elephants are extremely intelligent animals with the capacity for complex thoughts and emotions.” “The high risk of managing elephants underscores their inappropriateness for captivity, particularly when they are in close proximity to humans.”